Frequency of postoperative deep vein thrombosis in high-risk surgical patients

To find the frequency of postoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in high-risk surgical patients.

Cohort study.

The surgical department of the Combined Military Hospital, Rawalpindi from October 1997 to January 2000.

Patients of both genders were chosen from all the major branches of surgery provided they belonged to the high-risk categories. They were all over the age of 40 years and were to undergo a major surgical procedure. The selected patients were subjected to the radionuclide venography both pre- and postoperatively. This was performed using Technetium (Tc)-99 labeled RBCs blood pool venography technique.

Out of 117 patients studied, postoperative deep vein thrombosis was observed in 15 patients. So the frequency of postoperative deep vein thrombosis after high-risk surgery was 12.82%.

In this study the 12.82% frequency of deep vein thrombosis was lower than that in the Western literature. There is a need to provide prophylactic anticoagulant therapy to those older patients who are to undergo major orthopaedic surgery, have advanced malignancy or have more than one risk factors.