Cuff-impedance phlebography and 125I fibrinogen scanning versus roentgenographic phlebography for diagnosis of thrombophlebitis following hip surgery. A preliminary report.

Seventy-eight limbs of forty-eight patients undergoing total hip replacement were studied by roentgenographic phlebography, cuff-impedance phlebography, and 125I fibrinogen scanning. Compared with roentgenographic phlebography, cuff-impedance phlebography detected seven of ten thrombi in the thigh but none of nine thrombi in the calf and popliteal veins, giving an over-all accuracy of 80 per cent. The 125I fibrinogen scanning technique detected none of the ten thrombi in the thigh and seven of the nine in the calf and popliteal veins, giving an over-all accuracy of 78 per cent. Combining the results of the two techniques, fourteen of the nineteen thrombi were detected. Cuff-impedance phlebography appears to be a useful method for the diagnosis of thrombi in the thigh after hip surgery.