Active range of motion training and early mobilization are important to prevent DVT and PTE in patients with lower extremity amputation, even those with a short stump.
Anticoagulation enabled rehab resumption in this post-amputation DVT case; hypothesis-generating for prevention, larger studies required.
An 82-year-old patient underwent a left transfemoral amputation due to a malignant soft tissue tumor. He developed symptoms of chest pain and hypoxia on the 32nd day after the operation. These symptoms were caused by deep venous thrombosis (DVT) of the stump and acute pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE), for which he was treated with anticoagulant therapy. Shortly after treatment he could resume a rehabilitation therapy. Patients with a lower extremity amputation have a higher risk of developing a DVT because of immobility and increased venous pooling in the residual limb. Even with a short stump as in this case, it is important to actively train the range of motion of the joint and try to prevent DVT.
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Toyama et al. (2023) studied this question.
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