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. 2003 Apr 25;27(4):208–210. doi: 10.1007/s00264-003-0456-7

Foot pump prophylaxis for deep venous thrombosis—rate of effective usage following knee and hip arthroplasty

C Charalambous 1,3,, S Cleanthous 1, M Tryfonidis 1, A Goel 1, R Swindell 2, D Ellis 1
PMCID: PMC3458473  PMID: 12715239

Abstract

We recorded the usage of foot pumps during the post-operative period in 29 patients undergoing knee or hip arthroplasty and made 621 recordings. Effective utilisation of foot pumps was seen in 37.2% of cases. There was a gradual reduction in correct utilisation with each day that passed post-operatively (day 1, 60.4%; day 2, 48.8%; day 3, 28.8%; day 4, 21.4%; day 5, 23%). This gradual reduction was statistically significant (P=0.001) and mainly occurred between the second and third post-operative days. Effective usage was 60.2% overall at night and 36.4% during the day. Our results question the efficiency of foot pumps in deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis in the context of a true clinical setting.

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