The Significance of Lower Extremity Venous Ultrasound by Physical Therapists for Patients with Concerns about Pulmonary Embolism during Early Mobilization

Abstract

There are some patients who are on bed rest after hospitalization and who are concerned about pulmonary thromboembolism (PTE) if they undergo early mobilization. Before early mobilization, physical therapists performed lower extremity venous ultrasound (RH US) to verify whether these patients could be safely mobilized. RH US was performed on 35 patients with concerns about pulmonary thromboembolism, and one patient was found to have deep vein thrombosis. The level of concern was significantly reduced from a median of 6 to 1 on an 11-point scale before and after RH US (P<0.001). It was shown that RH US alleviates concerns about PTE associated with early mobilization and allows early mobilization to be performed safely.