DEEP VENOUS THROMBOSIS - DIAGNOSIS IN SPINAL-CORD INJURED PATIENTS

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  • 1 January 1985
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 66  (6) , 365-368
Abstract
Because the acute spinal cord injured patient is at high risk for the development of deep venous thrombosis (DVT), accurate diagnosis is critical. Clinical evaluation is unreliable 50% of the time, however, and the 2 highly accurate diagnostic procedures, venography and 125I-labeled fibrinogen scanning, are invasive and present serious drawbacks. The literature concerning the effectivenesss of the 2 most widely used noninvasive diagnostic alternatives (Doppler ultrasound and venous occlusion plethysmography [VOP]) is equivocal. In systematic evaluation of a series of 21 patients, using clinical examination. Doppler ultrasound and VOP, all patients who developed DVT were identified by all 3 methods. Overall accuracy, sensitivity and specificity were 100%.