Key points are not available for this paper at this time.
The incidence of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and the efficacy of prophylactic measures were prospectively evaluated in all patients admitted to a level I trauma center during 1991. Patients with Injury Severity Scores (ISS) > 9 who survived a minimum of 48 hours (n = 395) were monitored using venous Doppler and ultrasound studies during hospitalization (total, 1308 studies). Two hundred eighty-one patients (71%) were randomly assigned to low-dose heparin or sequential compression devices. There were 18 cases of lower extremity DVT (4.6%) and four cases (1.0%) of pulmonary emboli (PE), three of which were fatal. Eight patients (2.9%) on prophylaxis and 10 (8.8%) without prophylaxis developed DVT (p 9. Patients with severe neurologic injuries (particularly spinal cord) are at high risk for DVT and PE and may be considered for a prophylactic Greenfield filter.
Dennis et al. (Thu,) studied this question.