hemorrhage

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For more information on hemorrhage, visit Britannica.com.

The escape of blood from within the vascular system. Hemorrhage may result from either trauma or disease of the vessel wall. The escape of blood following rupture of a vessel wall as a result of trauma is obvious and needs no further explanation. The causes other than trauma can be divided into three main groups. The first group consists of these conditions in which there is a chronic disease process affecting the vessel wall, such as atherosclerosis or aneurysm formation. Either of these conditions, in association with an elevated blood pressure, can result in a break in the wall and subsequent hemorrhage. An infarct, or tissue death from any cause, may also result in hemorrhage. The second group consists of those causes in which there is an acute process affecting the vessel wall, such as septicemia, bacterial toxins, or anoxia. The third group consists of those hemorrhagic conditions which result from some defect in the blood itself. Under this heading are leukemia, thrombocytopenia, and the clotting disorders. See also Aneurysm; Arteriosclerosis; Infarction; Leukemia.

Petechiae are hemorrhages no larger than the head of a pin. Hemorrhages of greater size are termed ecchymoses. A localized mass of blood in tissue is a hematoma. Spontaneous hemorrhaging into the skin and mucosal surfaces is termed purpura. This usually denotes a disease of the vascular system or of the blood itself, such as a deficiency of blood platelets. See also Hematologic disorders.

Cerebrovascular accident, or stroke, is an acute vascular lesion of the brain. This may be the result of hemorrhage from, thrombosis in, or embolism to a cerebral vessel. See also Embolism.

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The escape of blood from a ruptured vessel. Hemorrhage can be external, internal, or into the skin or other tissues. Blood from an artery is bright red in color and comes in spurts; that from a vein is dark red and comes in a steady flow.
Hemorrhages in particular anatomical sites may be found under their specific anatomical headings.

• alimentary tract h. — includes hematochezia, melena.
• cancer-associated h. — see paraneoplastic hemorrhage (below).
• capillary h. — oozing of blood from minute vessels.
• cerebral h. — see brain hemorrhage.
• concealed h. — internal hemorrhage.
• ecchymotic h. — see ecchymosis.
• exercise-induced pulmonary h. — see exercise-induced pulmonary hemorrhage.
• fibrinolytic h. — that due to abnormalities in the fibrinolytic system and not dependent on hypofibrinogenemia.
• internal h. — that which occurs into cavities, e.g. hemoperitoneum, or into tissues, e.g. vulvar hematoma in mares. The only evidence of illness may be extreme pallor and weakness. There may be moderate dyspnea and other signs related to the distention of individual organs.
• h. intra-abdominal — see hemoperitoneum.
• intra-articular h. — see hemarthros.
• intracranial h. — bleeding within the cranium, which may be extradural, subdural, subarachnoid or cerebral.
• intraocular h. — see hyphema.
• mesenteric h. — uncommon syndrome caused by leakage of blood into the potential space between the two serosal layers of the mesentery. An extensive hemorrhage causes severe abdominal pain, shock, some blood-staining of peritoneal fluid and leakage of blood into the intestinal lumen.
• paraneoplastic h. — a variety of hemostatic disorders develop in association with neoplasia in animals and may result in disseminated intravascular coagulation and hemorrhage. Called also cancer-associated hemorrhage.
• peritoneal h. — see hemoperitoneum.
• petechial h. — subcutaneous hemorrhage occurring in minute spots.
• postpartum h. — that which follows soon after parturition.
• primary h. — that which soon follows an injury.
• secondary h. — that which follows an injury after a considerable lapse of time.
• subcutaneous h. — causes a soft, painless fluctuating swelling capable of being moved easily. Paracentesis reveals the presence of whole blood.

The escape of a large amount of blood from the blood vessels in a short period; excessive bleeding.

• Signs and Symptoms - hemorrhage: outflow of blood from ruptured blood vessel, esp. internal bleeding
• Spending, Receiving, and Possessing Wealth - hemorrhage: rapid loss of assets in large amounts

Common misspelling(s) of hemorrhage

• hemmorhage

Dansk (Danish)
n. - blødning
v. tr. - forbløde, bløde
v. intr. - forbløde

Français (French)
n. - (lit, fig) hémorragie
v. tr. - faire une hémorragie
v. intr. - faire une hémorragie, saigner beaucoup

Deutsch (German)
n. - Blutung
v. - stark bluten

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ιατρ., μτφ.) αιμορραγία
v. - αιμορραγώ

Italiano (Italian)
emorragia

Português (Portuguese)
n. - hemorragia (f) (Med.)
v. - sangrar, ter hemorragia

Русский (Russian)
кровотечение

Español (Spanish)
n. - hemorragia
v. tr. - perder (bienes)
v. intr. - sangrar profusamente

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - blödning (med.)
v. - blöda (med.)

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
出血, 溢血, 使大量流损, 大出血, 大量流损, 遭受大损失

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 出血, 溢血
v. tr. - 使大量流損
v. intr. - 大出血, 大量流損, 遭受大損失

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 출혈
v. tr. - 출혈로 고통 받다
v. intr. - 출혈하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - (医学)出血

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שטף דם, הפסד גדול‬
v. tr. - ‮בזבז כסף‬
v. intr. - ‮דימם קשות, אבד או התפזר, שטף דם‬

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