Patient satisfaction with mobile compression devices following total hip arthroplasty

The goal of this study was to evaluate patient satisfaction with the use of a mobile compression device after anterior total hip arthroplasty. Two hundred forty-seven patients used the mobile compression device for 10 days after surgery with recommended adjunctive 325 mg aspirin therapy. The device has a rechargeable battery pack that weighs 1.65 lb and is attached to compression sleeves worn over the calves of both lower extremities. It delivers sequential compression to the sleeves at a pressure of 50 mm Hg for about 10 seconds at a cycle of 1/min and is synchronized to the patient's venous blood flow pulses. A questionnaire was administered to all patients at 1-month follow-up to gauge patient perception of the device. There were 14 questions about comfort, noise, cost, pain, skin breakdown, rash, and falls related to the device. Overall, 234 of 247 (94.7%) patients stated that they would use the device again. The most common complaint from patients was that the mobile compression device was cumbersome (63.6%). Twenty-five patients (10.1%) reported having a fall while using the device, although no fall-related injuries were documented. Therefore, the authors recommend counseling patients about fall risk and reminding them to use caution while moving about with the device. Despite the limitations described in this study, the data confirmed that patients who used the device had an overall positive response to the system and would choose to use the device again rather than using chemical agents for deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis.