Incidence of postoperative venous thromboembolism in South India

The development of postoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT) was determined in 50 South Indian patients aged 50 years or more using the 125I-fibrinogen uptake technique. The overall incidence was 28 per cent. In patients with malignancy the incidence was 47.6 per cent. Predisposing factors such as varicose veins, oral contraceptives and obesity did not appear important. A retrospective analysis of post-mortem examinations performed on 432 patients dying after operation showed major pulmonary embolism to have occurred in only 1.9 per cent. The disproportion between the frequent occurrence of postoperative DVT and the infrequence of fatal pulmonary embolism warrants further study.