Mechanical prophylaxis after @entity173 : what is the risk of XXXX ? A retrospective observational study.

@entity1 @entity174 @entity1150 @entity173 @entity130
Graduated compression stockings carry a potential risk of pressure, vascular and other complications. Current understanding of @entity1150 ( @entity1150 ) risk leaves it uncertain whether @entity1 with @entity173 should wear stockings on both legs. OBJECTIVES: To determine the association between the side of the @entity173 and the subsequent occurrence of symptomatic lower limb @entity1150 . SETTING: Single tertiary @entity130 centre, Wales. @entity1 : All 3657 @entity1 presenting with @entity173 between 2007 and 2013 were identified from our unit's National @entity173 Database. We excluded 404 @entity1 (11.0%) resident outside our catchment area, leaving a total of 3253. Median age was 83   years (  12.4). PRIMARY/SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: We cross-linked @entity1 details with Medical Physics records, to identify 634 (19.5%) who had undergone one or more lower-limb Doppler-ultrasound scans at some point during the study period. The distribution rates of @entity1150 were calculated from this resulting data set. RESULTS: Many of the total 634 scans were unrelated to the @entity173 , including 225 (35.5%) performed prior to the @entity174 . We calculated a baseline rate of @entity1150 of 3.7/1000 @entity1 per year, for the 3-month period immediately before the @entity173 . Scans performed following @entity173 showed @entity1150 risk to be highest in the 3-month period after @entity174 (35.7/1000 @entity1 per year). This resulted from a six-fold increase in DVTs on the side of the @entity174 (29.5/1000 @entity1 per year, p<0.01). We found only a very small non-significant increase in @entity1150 on the contralateral leg (6.1/1000 @entity1 per year) CONCLUSIONS: The additional risk of @entity1150 after @entity173 is essentially confined to the fractured limb-the leg to which it is most painful to apply stockings. There appears little justification for the cost and potential risk of using stockings on the contralateral leg.
