Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, Vol 15, Issue 1 19-24, Copyright © 1996 by American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
Doppler color flow imaging surveillance of deep vein thrombosis in high-risk trauma patients
L. W. Hammers, S. M. Cohn, J. M. Brown, G. A. Burns, L. M. Scoutt, J. S. Pellerito and K. J. Taylor
Department of Radiology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut 06520-8042, USA.
To determine the prevalence of upper and lower extremity deep vein
thrombosis in high-risk trauma patients, 136 consecutive high-risk trauma
patients were prospectively evaluated with weekly Doppler color flow
imaging. Incomplete compressibility and visualized intraluminal thrombus
were considered diagnostic of deep vein thrombosis. Pulmonary embolus was
documented by pulmonary arteriography. Deep vein thrombosis occurred at 27
non-contiguous sites in 19 patients (14%). Eight of 27 cases of deep vein
thrombosis (30%) involved the upper extremity and 19 (70%) occurred in the
lower extremity. Twenty-one of 27 deep vein thromboses (78%) were partially
occlusive, whereas six (22%) were occlusive. Pulmonary embolus was
documented in three patients (2.2%). Doppler color flow imaging detected
occult deep vein thrombosis in 14% of high-risk trauma patients (30%
occurring in the upper extremity).
