Prophylaxis of thromboembolism in orthopaedics and traumatology
Mäkelä, E.A.; Myllynen, P.; Rokkanen, P.
Annales Chirurgiae et Gynaecologiae 80(4): 363-367
1991
ISSN/ISBN: 0355-9521 PMID: 1726036 Document Number: 367875
In a retrospective study we collected patient data relating to clinically detected postoperative thromboembolic complications before (n = 1710) and after (n = 2212) adopting a protocol for prophylaxis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). A relatively low incidence of clinically diagnosed DVT, four per thousand, before systematic instructions for prophylaxis in 1981 could be explained by the frequent use of dextran as a volume expander in critically ill patients. However, following systematic prophylaxis the frequency of DVT decreased further (one per thousand).