Use of the thermography for the early diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis following hip operations.

Up to 50% of patients suffer from deep vein thrombosis (DVT) after major hip surgery. Frequently DVT cannot be diagnosed clinically. To the present, venography alone has been used in these patients, but it is time consuming, necessitates an intravenous dye injection and is not without complications. Now, however, the technique of thermography is available as an additional diagnostic aid. The results of thermography were assessed in 24 patients who had recently undergone major hip operations and compared with those obtained by venography. Thermography did identify DVT in the lower leg veins of patients with no clinical symptoms, but higher obstructions were only diagnosed by venography. Thermography gave one false-positive result later disproven by venography. Thermography has the advantage of being noninvasive and economical; it will become more useful when smaller portable systems are developed.