Deep-Vein Thrombosis

Credit for fundamental studies leading to our current understanding of deep-vein thrombosis should be given to Bauer, who used phlebography to diagnose deep-vein thrombosis complicating fractures of the tibia,1 and to Sevitt and Gallagher for their autopsy-based studies of the prevalence of venous thromboembolism in patients with other injuries2,3. The development of objective methods for the diagnosis of deep-vein thrombosis has facilitated the investigation of its natural history and has provided a rational basis for its prevention and treatment.DiagnosisMost venous thrombi are clinically silent when they are first detectable by objective methods,2,4 probably because they . . .