Ultrasound for the Diagnosis of Deep Vein Thrombosis in Asymptomatic Patients after Orthopaedic Surgery

Ultrasound imaging appears to have only a moderate sensitivity and positive predictive value in screening for deep vein thrombosis in asymptomatic postoperative patients. Level of evidence: "B"

A systematic review 1 including 16 studies (11 of high quality) was abstracted in DARE. Standard contrast venography was the gold standard in all studies. In the high quality studies ultrasonography had a sensitivity of 62% (95 of 153, 95% CI 54% to 70%), a specificity of 97% (CI 96% to 98%) and a positive predictive value of 66%. For studies of lower quality, the sensitivity was 95% and specificity 100%.

References

Wells PS, Lensing AW, Davidson BL, Prins MH, Hirsh J. Accuracy of ultrasound for the diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis in asymptomatic patients after orthopedic surgery. A meta-analysis. Ann Intern Med 1995 Jan 1;122(1):47-53. [PubMed]

Primary/Secondary Keywords

Orthopaedics
Radiology
ultrasound
deep vein thrombosis
orthopaedic surgery
screening

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Evidence summaries

Ultrasound for the Diagnosis of Deep Vein Thrombosis in Asymptomatic Patients after Orthopaedic Surgery

References