[Role of surgery in the treatment of deep venous thrombosis of the lower limbs and prevention of pulmonary embolism].

Besides anticoagulants and thrombolytic drugs, surgery should be included among the therapeutical means to prevent deep phlebitis of the lower limbs. Early phlebography, thoroughly innocuous, is necessary to any coherent therapy. The prevention of pulmonary embolism which can be done by a ligature of the inferior vena cava or by the fitting of an umbrella-shaped filtre, is performed most of the time with a clamp of Adams and de Weese. Its reliability is satisfactory as the percentage of embolic recurrences does not exceed 5%. Early venous thrombectomy prevents in 60 to 80% of cases the post-phlebitic incidents; but its indication must be reserved to young patients.