The incidence of venous thrombosis in the lower limbs following elective gallbladder surgery.

The frequency of postoperative venous thrombosis and the prophylactic effect of dextran 40 and 70 were studied in 90 otherwise healthy patients undergoing cholecystectomy. The 125-I-fibrinogen test was employed as the diagnostic method. The frequency of thrombosis was very low (1.1%) compared with other investigations on patients undergoing elective general surgery. Thus nothing can be concluded about the prophylactic effect of dextran from this series, but it can be presumed that this type of patient does not need routine prophylaxis against deep venous thrombosis.