Nd. Garcia et al., Is bilateral ultrasound scanning of the legs necessary for patients with unilateral symptoms of deep vein thrombosis?, J VASC SURG, 34(5), 2001, pp. 792-796
Citations number
19
Categorie Soggetti
Cardiovascular & Respiratory Systems","Cardiovascular & Hematology Research
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the necessity of bilate
ral lower-extremity venous duplex ultrasound scanning in patients with unil
ateral symptoms of deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
Patients and Methods: A retrospective review of 1080 bilateral venous duple
x scans was performed. Patients were randomly selected from a total of 7922
studied between May 1998 and May 2000. Data on patient age, sex, comorbidi
ty, and the reason for ultrasound scan were compiled. Forty percent (435/10
80) of patients presented with unilateral symptoms of lower-extremity DVT.
This group was further analyzed according to their status as inpatients or
outpatients.
Results. DVT was diagnosed in 26.9% (117/435) of the patients. Of the inpat
ients found to have DVT, the thrombus was confined to the symptomatic leg i
n 23.8% (38/159), thrombus was present just in the asymptomatic leg in 8/15
9 (5.0%), and thrombus was found in both legs in 8/159 (5.0%). In the outpa
tient group, thrombus was confined to the symptomatic leg in 21.0% (58/276)
and found in both legs in 1.8% (5/276). None of the 276 outpatients had DV
T isolated in the asymptomatic leg.
Conclusion: Routine bilateral lower-extremity venous duplex studies are not
necessary in outpatients presenting with unilateral symptoms. In many outp
atients, a single-limb study will suffice. If a patient is found to have a
DVT on the symptomatic side, then we believe that a bilateral study is indi
cated. We do believe that routine bilateral scanning of inpatients remains
justified. This algorithm may save technician time and increase vascular la
boratory efficiency.