[Detection of acute venous thromboses using plethysmography. Possibilities and limitations]

The combined use of careful clinical examination and venous occlusion plethysmography has good diagnostic reliability. The clinical examination provides an estimated percentage "clinical probability"; in the event of negativity, complementary plethysmography enables confirmation of a negative clinical diagnosis; positive plethysmography confirms a probable clinical diagnosis or establishes the probability of thrombosis in patients with poor clinical signs. Thus false negative or false positive cases may be easily eliminated. In the remaining dubious cases complementary investigations are necessary.