Incidence of thrombosis after gynecologic surgery evaluated by an improved 125I-fibrinogen uptake test

Two hundred and seventy-six women over 50 years of age who had gynecologic surgery were followed postoperatively with the 125I-fibrinogen uptake test (125I-FUT) to detect deep venous thrombosis (DVT). By using a newly devised technique based on conventional 125I-FUT, the exact depth of thrombi could be determined. The correlation between the results with our new technique and those from phlebography was almost 100%. Forty-seven (17%) of the women developed DVT postoperatively, 60% of them occurring in the calf muscle veins. Patients subjected to abdominal hysterectomies for malignant diseases had the highest incidence of DVT (36%), whereas those operated on for benign diseases with the same technique had the lowest (11%). Patients operated on for uterine prolapse had an intermediate DVT frequency of 15% but advanced age and estrogens given preoperatively increased the frequency. Neither the type of anesthesia (epidural or general), nor the duration of the operation, significantly influence the incidence of DVT in this study.