The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (American). 2007;89:1050-1056.
doi:10.2106/JBJS.E.00434
© 2007 The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Inc.
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Rapid-Inflation Intermittent Pneumatic Compression for Prevention of Deep Venous Thrombosis

R. Eisele, MD1, L. Kinzl, MD1 and T. Koelsch, MD1

1 Department of Trauma Surgery and Reconstructive Surgery, Trauma Center Weissenhorn, Guenzburgerstrasse 41, 89264 Weissenhorn, Germany. E-mail address for R. Eisele: r.eisele{at}stiftungsklinik-weissenhorn.de

Investigation performed at the Department of Trauma Surgery and Reconstructive Surgery, Trauma Center Weissenhorn, Weissenhorn, Germany, and at the Department of Trauma Surgery, Hand and Reconstructive Surgery, University of Ulm, Ulm, Germany

Disclosure: In support of their research for or preparation of this work, one or more of the authors received, in any one year, outside funding or grants in excess of $10,000 from Aircast Europe. Neither they nor a member of their immediate families received payments or other benefits or a commitment or agreement to provide such benefits from a commercial entity. No commercial entity paid or directed, or agreed to pay or direct, any benefits to any research fund, foundation, division, center, clinical practice, or other charitable or nonprofit organization with which the authors, or a member of their immediate families, are affiliated or associated.

A commentary is available with the electronic versions of this article, on our web site (www.jbjs.org) and on our quarterly CD-ROM (call our subscription department, at 781-449-9780, to order the CD-ROM).

Background: Current treatment regimens that are designed to prevent deep venous thrombosis in patients undergoing orthopaedic procedures rely predominantly on drug prophylaxis alone. The purpose of this randomized clinical study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a mechanical adjunct to chemoprophylaxis that involves intermittent compression of the legs.

Methods: During a twenty-two month period, 1803 patients undergoing a variety of orthopaedic procedures were prospectively randomized to receive either chemoprophylaxis alone or a combination of chemoprophylaxis and mechanical prophylaxis. Nine hundred and two patients were managed with low-molecular-weight heparin alone, and 901 were managed with low-molecular-weight heparin and intermittent pneumatic compression of the calves for varying time periods. Twenty-four percent of the patients underwent total hip or knee joint replacement. Screening for deep venous thrombosis was performed on the day of discharge with duplex-color-coded ultrasound.

Results: In the chemoprophylaxis-only group, fifteen patients (1.7%) were diagnosed with a deep venous thrombosis; three thromboses were symptomatic. In the chemoprophylaxis plus intermittent pneumatic compression group, four patients (0.4%) were diagnosed with deep venous thrombosis; one thrombosis was symptomatic. The difference between the groups with regard to the prevalence of deep venous thrombosis was significant (p = 0.007). In the chemoprophylaxis plus intermittent pneumatic compression group, no deep venous thromboses were found in patients who received more than six hours of intermittent pneumatic compression daily.

Conclusions: Venous thrombosis prophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin augmented with a device that delivers rapid-inflation intermittent pneumatic compression to the calves was found to be significantly more effective for preventing deep venous thrombosis when compared with a treatment regimen that involved low-molecular-weight heparin alone.

Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level I. See Instructions to Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.


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