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Updated: Jul 23, 2025

Point-Of-Care Ultrasound Screening for Proximal Lower Extremity Deep Venous Thrombosis
Published on: February 10, 2023
A majority of trauma-related deep venous thromboses resolve prior to discharge
William A Marshall1, Ana G Dumitru2, Sophie H Chung2
1Division of Trauma, Department of Surgery, Surgical Critical Care, Burns and Acute Care Surgery, University of California San Diego, 200 West Arbor Dr., #8896, San Diego, CA, 92103-8896, USA. wilmarsh88@gmail.com.
Abstract:
Post-traumatic DVTs present unique challenges in patient populations with specific high-risk injury patterns. Duplex ultrasound (US) can be used to assess evolution of DVTs and may guide treatment for high-risk patients. We hypothesized that many DVTs resolve during the initial admission. Weekly duplex US are ordered on all trauma inpatients regardless of prior DVT at our facility. We reviewed US and outcomes data on all patients with lower extremity DVTs at our Level I trauma center from January 2012-December 2021. 392 patients were diagnosed with lower extremity DVT by US. 261 (67%) patients received follow-up US with a mean time to repeat US of 6 days. Of these, 91 (35%) patients experienced DVT resolution prior to the first follow-up US, and 141 (54%) patients experienced resolution prior to discharge. Mean time to resolution was 10 days. Over 50% of DVTs resolve before discharge and are detected by US. Further studies and post-discharge follow-up are needed to determine if patients with resolved DVTs can be managed without therapeutic anticoagulation.
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