Prophylactic treatment against clinical thrombo-embolism post pelvic/acetabular fracture fixation, a prospective study

BackgroundVenous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication of pelvic and acetabular fracture fixation. There is, however, currently limited data to guide clinical decisions on thromboprophylaxis choice in these patients.MethodsThis is a prospective study with retrospective analysis of all the patients who were admitted to the Northern General Hospital between August 2009 and March 2011. 2 consultants using same technique and peri-operative regime carried out all procedures. All patients were administered prophylactic enoxaparin and those who were admitted via another hospital had a pre-operative Doppler scan. Post-operatively all patients were commenced on warfarin, or low molecular weight heparin (enoxaprin) if warfarin was contra-indicated, and was continued for three months after discharge.ResultsEighty-nine patients were admitted during this period of which 25 were treated conservatively and were excluded from the study. The mean age of patients was 39.7 years (range 17 to 83) & 73% of those were...