Abstract
Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) has been widely recognized as one of the most serious complications that can occur after total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The present study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy and safety of enoxaparin for preventing DVT after THA or TKA.
One hundred patients who underwent THA (47 cases) or TKA (53 cases) between September 2008 and June 2010 were included. There were 24 males and 76 females, with an average age of 71 years (range : 34 to 87 years). The patients were divided into two groups. Group E included 59 patients who received 2000 IU of enoxaparin twice daily for 14 days after surgery, and group C included 41 patients who did not receive enoxaparin. The plasma D-dimer levels were measured at 1, 3, and 7 days after surgery. The presence or absence of DVT was examined by ultrasonography at 7 days after surgery. The age at surgery, body mass index (BMI), operation time, volume of transfusion, the incidence of DVT and D-dimer levels were compared statistically between the two groups.
There were no significant inter-group differences in the age at surgery, BMI, operation time, or volume of transfusion. The incidence of DVT was 8.5% in group E and 14.6% in group C, the difference being non-significant. D-dimer levels were significantly lower in group E than in group C at 3 and 7 days after surgery. There were no complications caused by enoxaparin.
The results of this study indicate that enoxaparin is effective for prevention of DVT after THA and TKA.
