Plethysmographic screening for deep venous thrombosis following total hip replacement

A series of 97 lower limbs examined with venography and plethysmography after total hip replacement surgery is presented. No patients had clinical signs of deep venous thrombosis (DVT). Venography revealed distal DVT in 26 limbs. Plethysmography was negative in 25 of these cases. A low sensitivity for plethysmographic detection of calf thrombi is described in previous publications. In this study, however, we found a complete lack of correlation between positive plethysmography and venography in limbs with distal, symptomfree thrombosis.