Deep venous thrombosis following Charnley arthroplasty.

A venographic investigation has been carried out on 50 patients undergoing Charnley total hip replacement. The overall incidence of thrombus formation was 54%. Most of the thrombi formed in the second postoperative week, with a preponderance for the operated side, and were sevenly distributed throughout the venous system. The preoperative assessment both clinical and venographic was of no value in predicting thrombus formation postoperatively. The fact that few thrombi formed in the "sensitive area" indicates that the Charnley technique of arthroplasty and the heat generated using acrylic cement has little part to play in the formation of postoperative thrombi, rather that a generalized hypercoagulable state is induced by the operation.