Problems with bleeding, easy bruising, or swollen joints?
It may surprise you, but any of these symptoms can result from a bleeding disorder. You might bleed or bruise easily or have trouble getting bleeding to stop. Or you may have swelling or pain in your joints for no apparent reason.
If you think you have a bleeding disorder, learn more by reading this page. Then talk with your doctor about your symptoms and getting tested. Diagnosis and treatment may help.
What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Bleeding Disorders?
There are many possible symptoms of bleeding disorders. Some are easy to see because they happen outside the body, like bleeding too long from a cut in the skin. But bleeding that happens inside the body (like in a joint) may be harder to notice. Also, symptoms can range from mild (not too much worse than normal) to severe (much worse than normal).
Symptoms of a bleeding disorder may include—
Symptoms in women:
- Heavier or longer bleeding during periods than most other women (heavy menstrual bleeding)
- Bleeding complications during pregnancy or childbirth
Symptoms in newborns: Umbilical cord (belly button) or circumcision bleeding that does not stop normally, abnormal bruising or bleeding, or brain or stomach bleeding
Symptoms in anyone of any age:
Easy bruising
Nosebleeds
Joint swelling/pain
Gum bleeding
Excessive bleeding after injury
Bleeding in the brain
What Are Bleeding Disorders?
Bleeding disorders are a group of conditions where people may bleed a lot, bleed easily, or have a hard time getting bleeding to stop. This is due to a problem in the clotting process. Bleeding can happen inside or outside the body.
How does the body normally stop bleeding?
The body forms a clot (plug) to stop the blood from flowing. Blood clots are formed using tiny cells known as platelets and proteins called clotting factors.
What happens in people with bleeding disorders?
The blood may not have enough clotting factors, or they may not be working the way they should. These problems can keep a clot from forming, so bleeding continues.
Did You Know?
- Clotting factors are usually written using Roman numerals, like factor II (two), factor V (five), or factor X (ten).
- For example, someone with factor X deficiency doesn’t have enough factor X (ten) in their blood.
How Common Are Bleeding Disorders?
Bleeding disorders can affect anyone. There are many types of bleeding disorders, and some of them are hereditary (“run in families”).
- The most common bleeding disorders are von Willebrand disease and hemophilia.
- von Willebrand disease affects up to about 1 in 100 people in the US.1
- Hemophilia affects about 1 of every 5000 males at birth.2
- Other bleeding disorders are less common. They are known as rare bleeding disorders.
- If von Willebrand and hemophilia are not the cause of bleeding, tests for rare bleeding disorders may help to find the cause of bleeding and the right treatment.
How Do I Know If I Have a Bleeding Disorder?
If you think you have a bleeding disorder, talk with your doctor. Your doctor may ask about your symptoms, medical history, and family history of bleeding problems. You can ask your doctor about blood tests to check for bleeding disorders and treatment to help you manage bleeding.
Help your doctor help you.
- Answer a few symptom questions and save, print, or email your answers.
- Show the questions and answers to your doctor.
- Ask your doctor about getting tested for a bleeding disorder.
Hemophilia treatment centers
Many patients with bleeding disorders seek diagnosis and treatment at a Hemophilia Treatment Center (HTC). More than 140 HTCs are found across the US. They provide high-quality care for people with all types of bleeding disorders. Talk with your doctor about HTCs.
How Are Bleeding Disorders Treated?
Bleeding disorders cannot usually be cured. But many bleeding disorders can be treated. Treatment depends on the bleeding disorder. It may include medicines that replace clotting factors that are missing in the blood.
The type of treatment needed depends on how often you have symptoms and how severe they are.
Routine treatment (prophylaxis):
- Some bleeding disorders can be treated with routine treatment. This means you take a medicine on a regular schedule as directed by your doctor to help prevent bleeds.
- This may be the right choice if your symptoms are regular, affect your daily activities, cause pain, or if you have very severe (bad) bleeds.
Treatment with surgery:
- In some cases, treatment may be given with surgery to help prevent bleeding. This includes dental surgery or other procedures where bleeding is possible.
- This may be the right choice if you might bleed more because of surgery, even if you don't have a lot of bleeding symptoms.
Treatment as needed (on-demand):
- Sometimes treatment is given as needed for an accident, injury, or unexpected bleeding. Treatment as needed can help to stop a bleed after it starts.
- This may be the right choice if you bleed very rarely, if bleeding does not usually affect your daily activity, or if your bleeding is not severe.
References: 1. Centers for Disease Control. What is von Willebrand disease? https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/vwd/facts.html. Reviewed July 7, 2023. Accessed September 20, 2023. 2. Centers for Disease Control. What is hemophilia? https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/hemophilia/facts.html. Reviewed July 12, 2023. Accessed September 20, 2023.
Indications and Usage for COAGADEX
COAGADEX, a plasma-derived blood coagulation factor X concentrate, is indicated in adults and children with hereditary factor X deficiency for:
- Routine prophylaxis to reduce the frequency of bleeding episodes
- On-demand treatment and control of bleeding episodes
- Perioperative management of bleeding in patients with mild, moderate and severe hereditary factor X deficiency
Contraindication for COAGADEX
COAGADEX is contraindicated in patients who have had life-threatening hypersensitivity reactions to COAGADEX.
Important Safety Information for COAGADEX
Allergic type hypersensitivity reactions, including anaphylaxis, are possible with COAGADEX. If symptoms occur, patients should discontinue use of the product immediately, contact their physician, and administer appropriate treatment.
The formation of neutralizing antibodies (inhibitors) to factor X is a possible complication in the management of individuals with factor X deficiency. Carefully monitor patients taking COAGADEX for the development of inhibitors by appropriate clinical observations and laboratory tests.
COAGADEX is made from human plasma and may contain infectious agents, e.g. viruses, the variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD) agent and, theoretically, the Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) agent. No cases of transmission of viral diseases, vCJD or CJD, have been associated with the use of COAGADEX.
In clinical studies, the most common adverse reactions (frequency ≥5% of subjects) with COAGADEX were infusion site erythema, infusion site pain, fatigue and back pain.
