Effect of different application duration of a venous foot pump on prevention of venous thromboembolism after hip and knee arthroplasty: a multicenter prospective clinical trial
Randomized controlled trial published in BMC musculoskeletal disorders (2023)
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the optimal duration of applying a venous foot pump (VFP) in the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) following hip and knee arthroplasty. METHODS: A total of 230 patients undergoing hip and knee arthroplasty between March 2021 and March 2022 in orthopaedic departments of four major teaching hospitals were prospectively enrolled. Patients were randomly divided into five groups based on the duration of the VFP application. Postoperative deep vein thromboses (DVT), including proximal, distal, and intermuscular DVT, were recorded for analysis. Postoperative blood coagulation examinations, such as D-dimer and active partial thromboplastin time (APTT), pain outcome, and degree of comfort were also collected. RESULTS: Two of the 230 patients withdrew due to early discharge from the hospital, and 228 patients were included in the final analysis. The mean age was 60.38 ± 13.33 years. The baseline characteristics were comparable among the five groups. Compared with the other groups, patients treated with 6-hour VFP had the lowest incidence of DVT (8.7%, 4/46), followed by those treated with 1-hour VFP (15.2%, 7/46), 12-hour VFP (15.6%, 7/45), 18-hour VFP(17.8%, 8/45) and 20-hour VFP(21.7%, 10/46), but with no significant difference (P = 0.539). Regarding postoperative blood coagulation examinations, patients treated with 6-hour VFP had the lowest D-dimer (P = 0.658) and the highest APTT (P = 0.262) compared with the other four groups. 6-hour VFP also had the lowest pain score (P = 0.206) and the highest comfort score (P = 0.288) compared with the other four groups. CONCLUSIONS: Six hours may be the optimal duration of applying VFP for the prevention of VTE in patients undergoing hip and knee arthroplasty in terms of VTE incidence, postoperative blood coagulation examinations, pain outcomes, and comfort scores.
Abstract sourced from PubMed (NCBI) for the cited record. See the original publication for the authoritative version.
Summary
To investigate the optimal duration of applying a venous foot pump (VFP) in the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) following hip and knee arthroplasty. A total of 230 patients undergoing hip and knee arthroplasty between March 2021 and March 2022 in orthopaedic departments of four major teaching hospitals were prospectively enrolled.
Why This Matters for Hirudotherapy
This multicenter randomized clinical trial assigned 228 hip- and knee-arthroplasty patients to five durations of a mechanical venous foot pump and found that a 6-hour application had the lowest deep-vein-thrombosis incidence (8.7%) along with favorable D-dimer, comfort, and pain trends, though the differences between durations were not statistically significant. The relevance to ASH is indirect and contextual: it addresses post-surgical venous thromboembolism prevention and venous stasis, the same clinical territory where localized leech application is sometimes discussed for relieving venous congestion. Honest caveat: this trial studies a mechanical compression device, not anticoagulant therapy or hirudotherapy, the between-group differences were not significant, and nothing in the abstract bears on the medicinal-leech secretome or on leech treatment itself.
Citation
Effect of different application duration of a venous foot pump on prevention of venous thromboembolism after hip and knee arthroplasty: a multicenter prospective clinical trial.
Gu S et al. · BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2023
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