Incidence of Deep Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism after Achilles Tendon Rupture

Abstract

We found the overall incidence of symptomatic DVT and PE to be low after an Achilles tendon rupture and believe routine use of anticoagulation might be unwarranted.

The benefit of pharmacological venous thromboprophylaxis in foot and ankle surgery

“…[7][8][9][10] The decision whether or not to use thrombosis chemoprophylaxis is therefore decided by weighing up the patient's risk for bleeding against the risk of developing VTE. No universal guidelines are available, although the general consensus from various bodies [31,34,38,40] and published articles [6,12,13,21,22,24,25,27,30,33,39] is that use of prophylactic anticoagulation is not advocated in foot and ankle surgery In a previous prospective study, [37] we found that the absolute number of cases of VTE after foot and ankle surgery was unacceptably high (11/130 (8.5%)), although this was not statistically significant owing to the relatively small number of cases. We identified a cohort of patients who were particularly prone to developing VTE after foot and ankle surgery.…”

Incidence of Preoperative Deep Vein Thrombosis in Calcaneal Fractures

“…Multiple studies in the recent literature have reported the incidence and risk factors of thromboembolic events after lower extremity fracture surgery ( Table 1) and conclude that the incidence of symptomatic DVT or nonfatal PE after lower extremity fracture surgery is low and that thromboprophylaxis is not indicated [4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11] . Correlation of the incidence of thromboembolic events after lower extremity fractures to age and BMI has also been documented.…”

Acute presentation of deep vein thrombosis in Achilles tendon rupture: A case report

“…In a large retrospective study by Patel et al, the overall rates for DVT and PE after Achilles tendon ruptures were 0.43% and 0.34%, respectively. Age older than 40 years, congestive heart failure, history of DVT or PE, obesity, and whether a patient had surgery; did not predict occurrence of DVT or PE (Table 1) [3]. However, after injury or surgery to the lower limbs the clinical diagnosis of DVT is fairly challenging.…”

“…In patients immobilized with plaster casts due to lower leg injuries, Kujath et al demonstrated a reduction in the incidence of DVT when prophylactic treatment was used [9]. On the other hand, Patel et al believe that routine use of anticoagulation might be unwarranted (Table 2) [3].…”

“…The rates of reported deep vein thrombosis (DVT) range from 6.3-34%. There is no agreement regarding prophylactic therapy after an Achilles tendon rupture [3].…”