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Pitting vs. non-pitting is a clinical feature that tells you whether an edema is a transudate or an exudate/lymphatic blockage. Pitting edema stays pitted after you press and release with a finger; non-pitting usually won't give to pressure.
Edema as we know is accumulation of fluid in the interstitial space. Now edema is divided into two types in terms of pitting thing. 1. Pitting and Non-pitting. basically when you press lets say an edema in ur ankle and it stays dented then this is called Pitting edema, in contrast if initial denting disappears then it's a non-pitting edema.
Vice versa, edema in diseases like acute glomerulonephritis will be hard ('non-pitting'). This is evident in location of edema as well. Pitting edema is evident in lower extremities, especially ankles. On the other hand, edema of eyelids is seen in glomerulonephritis. Maybe one point to make here is about thyroid diseases.
Nonpitting edema will not indent. That being said, classic causes of pitting edema, ie lymphedema, is soft and will pit early in the course. It is not until the chronic stages in which the area gets that woody feel from the tissues becoming fibrotic that the edema becomes nonpitting. The other main cause of nonpitting edema is myxedema.