Deep venous insufficiency after postoperative thrombosis diagnosed with 125I-labelled fibrinogen uptake test

Postoperative thrombosis detected with the 125I-labelled fibrinogen uptake test (FUT) is frequent. FUT correlates well with phlebography and a positive FUT is associated with high incidence of pulmonary embolism. This study has been performed to evaluate venous function 3-5 years after FUT-detected thrombosis. A follow-up examination was performed in 381 patients who had been studied after operation with FUT. The follow-up included a questionnaire, clinical examination, venous occlusion strain-gauge plethysmography, ambulatory strain-gauge plethysmography, venous pressure examination and, in some cases, Doppler ultrasound examination of venous valve function in the leg. No statistically significant differences were found in any parameters used between legs with and without FUT-detected postoperative thrombosis, except that more FUT-positive legs had an abnormal venous pressure decrease during exercise than FUT-negative legs. The frequency of deep venous insufficiency was equal in FUT-positive and FUT-negative legs. Moreover the frequency of deep venous insufficiency was not affected by the site of the FUT-detected thrombosis or by the different kinds of prophylactics used. The frequency of venous insufficiency was high.