Association of Surgeons of Great Britain and Ireland

Abstract

Foot volumetry is a simple, non-invasive technique for functional assessment of the venous system of the lower limb. The results of foot volumetry and venous pressure measurements were compared in 28 patients who were allocated to one of three groups--normal, uncomplicated superficial venous incompetence and deep venous incompetence--on the basis of clinical examination and ascending phlebography. Volumetry was found to differentiate more accurately between the three groups. Volumetry was also used in 113 patients who had suffered from phlebographically proved deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Seventy-seven per cent of 34 patients who sustained a major DVT and 16 per cent of 79 patients with calf vein thrombosis had evidence of severe haemodynamic impairment equivalent to that seen in the established post-phlebitic syndrome. The clinical significance of these findings is discussed.

Deep vein thrombosis: a 7‐year follow‐up study

“…Lindhagen [4] found that the only difference between distal and proximal DVT was more outflow obstruction in the latter, 8% vs. 31%. On the other hand, Lawrence [15] found an excess of DVI in proximal DVT. Thus, there might be more DVI in proximal DVT, but there is no evidence of increased symptoms.…”

The controversy of managing calf vein thrombosis

“…At 3 to 4 years, McLafferty 51 reported few with significant venous symptoms, and at 5 years, one out of 10 showed CEAP Class 4 to 6 findings according to Asbeutah and colleagues. 53 Both McLafferty 51 and Asbeutah 53 reported approximately onethird with reflux of the affected limb and unexpectedly high incidence of reflux in unaffected venous segments 50 and unaffected limbs, 52 which suggests underlying valvular dysfunction may have preceded the DVT, possibly predisposing them to clotting, or the DVT may be the result of a systemic valvular problem. Of note is that venous ulceration was not commonly reported by 5-year follow-up studies.…”

Scoring systems for grading deep leg vein thrombosis

“…The deep muscle veins of the calf (soleal and gastrocnemial veins) are the most common sites of origin of a thrombus that may propagate and result in PE or venous dysfunction (2, 10, 12, 13, 18–23, 27–30, 36). The DVT distribution in 105 patients with phlebographically proven DVT referred for phlebography from the Department of Internal Medicine at Malmö University Hospital, Malmö, Sweden, has been described previously.…”