What is the incidence of postoperative deep vein thrombosis in Thai patients undergoing hip surgery?
The low incidence of postoperative DVT in Thai patients undergoing hip surgery suggests that routine prophylactic anticoagulant measures may not be necessary in this population.
A pilot study was done during April 1984 through June 1986 to determine the incidence of postoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT) among 50 Thai patients who underwent hip surgery, which mainly consisted of total hip replacement (19 patients) and repair of hip fracture (29 patients). Most patients were in the sixth to seventh decade of life, and the male-to-female ratio was 32:18. Most patients were of normal or low weight, few had known risk factors for DVT, and all but three had general anesthesia. Venography performed on the operated on legs on the seventh to tenth postoperative days showed that only two patients had DVT, one in the calf and another in the calf and thigh veins. The low incidence of DVT in the Thai population even after such extensive surgery, which is associated with a high (40% to 70%) frequency of DVT in the Western world, suggests that routine prophylactic anticoagulant measures are not presently needed in this country.
Vichai Atichartakarn (Wed,) studied this question.