PREVENTION OF DEEP VENOUS THROMBOSIS IN AMBULATORY OR DISCHARGED ORTHOPEDIC PATIENTS - ACTUAL MANAGEMENT

In recent years the problem of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in outpati ents and discharged patients has grown into a medical and juridical pr oblem. In traumatology certain recommendations and statistical materia l exist: similar recommendations were made by the Berufsverband der Ar zte fur Orthopadie, Germany, pointing out the lack of sufficient stati stical material. With the present study we tried to evaluate the actua l management of DVT in discharged patients or outpatients in leading o rthopaedic hospitals. The results from December 1993 reveal an inhomog enous procedure which does not precisely follow the above recommendati ons. However, most orthopaedic surgeons agree that either general or i ndividual means to prevent DVT should be available for ambulatory and discharged patients with plaster immobilisation of the leg according t o presently accepted standards, i.e. low-dose heparin or low-molecular -weight heparins. Reduced weight-bearing, in contrast, is considered n ot to require preventive heparinisation to any great extent.