Diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis using a Doppler ultrasonic technique.

A consecutive series of 118 patients was studied postoperatively by Doppler ultrasonic techniques and by either venography or radioiodinated fibrinogen. When using the latter diagnostic measures, 22 patients were shown to have deep venous thrombosis, an incidence of 18.6 per cent. The Doppler ultrasonic technique showed that 21 patients had deep venous thrombosis, an incidence of 17.7 per cent. When the patients diagnosed as having deep venous thrombosis by two separate methods were compared, it was shown that the Doppler technique gave two false-positive results and three false-negative results. It is concluded that this technique is accurate, and because of its convenience, lack of complications and ability to be repeated frequently, it should be the preferred screening technique for the diagnosis of postoperative deep venous thrombosis.