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Deep Venous Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism are Uncommon in East Asian Patients after Total Hip Arthroplasty

  • Clinical Research
  • Published:
Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research®

Abstract

Background

In Western countries, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), are relatively common after THA and many surgeons recommend routine pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis. There is some suggestion in the literature that the incidences of DVT and PE may be lower in East Asian patients. Therefore, it would be important to establish the incidences in a large number of East Asian patients who did not receive pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis.

Purpose

We therefore determined the incidence of DVT and PE and evaluated the associated risk factors in a series of East Asian patients who underwent primary THA without pharmacologic prophylaxis.

Methods

We retrospectively evaluated all 861 patients who underwent 992 elective primary THAs from May 2003 to December 2009. We identified patients with symptomatic DVT, symptomatic PE, and fatal PE. For potential risk factors we considered age, gender, body mass index (BMI), administration of aspirin, type of anesthesia, operation time, approach, simultaneous bilateral THAs, and duration of immobilization between symptomatic and asymptomatic patients.

Results

We identified eight patients with symptomatic DVT, one of whom also had a symptomatic PE; there were no cases of fatal PE. The incidences of fatal PE, symptomatic PE, and symptomatic DVT were 0 %, 0.1 %, and 0.8 %, respectively. Longer duration of immobilization predicted symptomatic DVT or PE.

Conclusions

East Asian patients have a low incidence of symptomatic DVT and PE and virtually no fatal PEs after primary THA. The incidences and risk factors should be taken into consideration when deciding whether to prophylactically treat these patients with pharmacologic agents.

Level of Evidence

Level IV, prognostic study. See the Guidelines for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

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Acknowledgement

We thank Chong Bum Chang MD for statistical advice.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, SM Christianity Hospital, Gyeongbuk, South Korea

    Bun Jung Kang MD

  2. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, 166 Gumi-ro, Bundang-gu, Seongnam, 463-707, South Korea

    Young-Kyun Lee MD & Kyung-Hoi Koo MD

  3. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Hee Joong Kim MD

  4. Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea

    Yong-Chan Ha MD

Authors
  1. Bun Jung Kang MD
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  2. Young-Kyun Lee MD
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  3. Hee Joong Kim MD
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  5. Kyung-Hoi Koo MD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Young-Kyun Lee MD.

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Each author certifies that he or she has no commercial associations (eg, consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangements, etc) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article.

Each author certifies that his or her institution approved the human protocol for this investigation, that all investigations were conducted in conformity with ethical principles of research, and that informed consent for participation in the study was waived by the institutional review board of their hospital.

This work was performed at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital.

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Kang, B.J., Lee, YK., Kim, H.J. et al. Deep Venous Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism are Uncommon in East Asian Patients after Total Hip Arthroplasty. Clin Orthop Relat Res 469, 3423–3428 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-011-1979-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11999-011-1979-7

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