Indium 111 platelet imaging for the detection of deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in patients without symptoms after surgery.

Indium 111 platelet imaging for the detection of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary emboli was performed in 171 patients after abdominal and pelvic surgery. Fifteen patients were found to have inadequate circulating blood pools of indium 111 platelets, making the study nondiagnostic. Of 156 patients with technically satisfactory images, 46 (29.5%) had images consistent with deep venous thrombosis and/or pulmonary emboli. The incidence, time of occurrence, and location of thromboemboli was similar to those of other reports of postoperative patients groups studied by iodine 125 fibrinogen uptake testing. Eighty patients had normal indium 111 platelets and 30 patients had diffusely distributed indium 111 platelets found in the operative field, suggesting accumulation in a postoperative hematoma. None of these results was confused with a diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis. When compared with another accurate diagnostic test in 23 patients, indium 111 platelet imaging was found to have a sensitivity of 100% and specificity of 90%. The technique of indium 111 platelet imaging is performed easily in patients after surgery with some limitations as to the use of donor platelets and the occasionally altered imaging of the operative site. This diagnostic technique enjoys the distinct advantage in that it allows surveillance of the legs, pelvis, abdomen, and chest by a single method, making it a near-ideal method of postoperative thromboembolism surveillance.