Can a nose bleed be a sign of pulmonary embolism? My father has already had pulmonary embolism within the last three years and one year ago had multiple blood clots in both legs all the way from ankles up to kidney. He has had several procedures to remove these and is on anticoagulants. He recently has become very short of breath and he has told us that he is having nosebleeds. What is your opinion?
Hello! The nose bleed (medically termed epistaxis)cannot happen because of Pulmonary embolism per se. Embolism means there is clotting of blood in that blood vessel. While what your parent had experienced is bleeding (opposite of clotting) Since you have mentioned that he is on anticoagulant medications (blood thinners) it is possible that these Chat Doctor.  Also, it is possible that this nose bleed could have been initiated by some other cause and aggravated by the blood thinner medications.  In that case the underlying cause (maybe hypertension or trauma to nose or anything else relevant)needs to be looked for and treated. While on the way to physician, to reduce the nose bleed, ask your father to pinch his nose for few seconds and lean forwards, application of ice packs can help to constrict the leaking blood vessels and reduce bleed.  The doctor would do a nasal packing to control bleed. Get his blood pressure checked and INR testing done (accordingly the dose of anticoagulant needs to be adjusted)