The incidence of deep vein thrombosis after hip and knee arthroplasties in Japanese patients: a prospective study.

PURPOSE To document the incidence of proximal deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in 58 consecutive Japanese patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty or total knee arthroplasty. METHODS Patients were routinely examined for proximal deep vein thrombosis by B-mode ultrasonography before and after surgery. Those patients who had ultrasonographic findings of deep vein thrombosis were also investigated for pulmonary embolism by ventilation-perfusion lung scan. RESULTS The incidence of deep vein thrombosis after total hip arthroplasty and total knee arthroplasty were 9.1% and 4.0% respectively, and the incidence of pulmonary embolism were 3.0% and 0%, respectively. There were no cases of fatal pulmonary embolism. CONCLUSION The incidence of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in Japanese patients may have increased over the last few decades.