Use of ethamsylate in vaginal surgery and deep-vein thrombosis.

Ethamsylate (Dicynene) reduces small vessel haemorrhage, both surgical and non-surgical. ' Its exact mode of action is still unknown, but probably it decreases capillary fragility. Much of the morbidity after vaginal surgery is due to haematoma formation with secondary infection. We thought it reasonable to assume that if small vessel fragility was reduced fewer haematomas would be formed. Nevertheless, the use of ethamsylate might increase the risk of postoperative deep-vein thrombosis in these patients. We therefore carried out a randomised, double-blind clinical trial to evaluate the use of ethamsylate in patients undergoing vaginal surgery.