Deep venous thrombosis
Venous thrombosis is a common post-operative complication following hip arthroplasty and may pose a life-threatening condition such as pulmonary embolism. Every patient undergo hip arthroplasty would receive a prophylaxis treatment of deep venous thrombosis as a routine precaution following the surgery. There are specific measures that can lower the risk of post-operative DVT, and pulmonary embolism as:
- Medical treatment with LMWH or aspirin
- Epidural anesthesia
- Physical therapy following the procedure
A study by Valle et al. followed 989 patients who underwent a total hip arthroplasty. Those patients received a single dose of unfractionated heparin intraoperatively, and additional treatment with aspirin in 87% of patients, and warfarin in 13% of patients. In those patients asymptomatic DVT occurs in 7.1% of patients, while symptomatic DVT occurs in 0.88% of patients.
