The postphlebitic syndrome; a study of possible factors in subjective disability.

Three hundred patients with the post-thrombophlebitic syndrome were studied. The lower extremities were involved in the majority of cases. Severe disabling subjective symptoms, such as burning, aching, cramping and shooting pains, occurred in approximately 15 per cent of cases regardless of the presence or absence of objective findings such as ulcerations, edema or dermatitis. Subjective symptoms occurred in about as many men as women. The persistence and severity of disabling subjective symptoms seemed to be unrelated to the possibility of compensation or pecuniary gain. No adequate explanation could be found for the perseverance of disabling subjective symptoms. There was no consistent relation of subjective symptoms and disability to psychic factors.