What started as a fun drive for a 30-year-old businessman ended with a swollen leg, blackouts and an emergency trip to a hospital in a critical condition two days later. Saurabh Sharma suffered a pulmonary embolism - a blockage in one of the pulmonary arteries in the lungs. Doctors said it was caused by a non-stop eight-hour-long drive wearing tight-fitting denims.

"I was on my way to Rishikesh and wore tight denims. Since it was an automatic car, my left leg did not move at all. I started feeling the pain in my calves and knees but I ignored it. After two days, my leg was swollen and after reaching office, I suffered a blackout for five minutes, apart from breathlessness and sweating," said Sharma, a resident of Pitampura.

His colleagues found him unconscious on the office staircase. Sharma briefly regained consciousness, but fell unconscious again, after which he was rushed to a hospital. With a feeble BP and pulse, his condition became critical and doctors performed CPR to revive him.

"Due to low BP over a long period, his kidneys were unable to function properly. He was put on a 24-hour dialysis therapy. We later found that he suffered from a massive pulmonary embolism because of the long drive. He was wearing tight-fitting denim, which can be a reason for the clot in his leg," said Dr Naveen Bhamri, Director & HoD, Cardiology, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Shalimar Bagh.

"Prolonged sitting in uncomfortable clothes can also lead to this problem," said Dr V K Bahl, head of cardiology at AIIMS.