The effect of a thigh tourniquet on the incidence of deep venous thrombosis after operations on the fore part of the foot.

We performed a prospective randomized clinical study to determine whether use of a thigh tourniquet influences the incidence of deep venous thrombosis. The lower limbs of patients who were scheduled for elective surgery on the fore part of the foot were randomized and assigned to one of three treatment categories: Group I, no tourniquet; Group II, exsanguination by an Esmarch bandage before tourniquet application; and Group III, exsanguination by elevation of the extremity prior to application of a tourniquet. The 117 limbs of seventy-one patients included in this study were evaluated preoperatively and twenty-four and seventy-two hours postoperatively with 125I-labeled fibrinogen, and preoperatively and seventy-two hours postoperatively with Doppler ultrasound studies and phleborheography. The findings in all of the Doppler ultrasound studies and all of the phleborheograms were normal. Two of the 125I-fibrinogen studies were positive, but subsequent contrast venography revealed that these were false-positive findings. We therefore concluded that the use of a thigh tourniquet does not increase the risk of deep venous thrombosis in patients who have had an operation on the fore part of the foot.