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Prevention of pulmonary embolism by a foot sole pump

Department of Orthopaedics, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, 1-5-45 Yushima, Bunkyoku, Tokyo, Japan.

Correspondence should be sent to Dr H. Asano at Kawaguchi Kohgyo General Hospital, Aoki 1-18-15 Kawaguchi City, Saitama, Japan.

We carried out a prospective, randomised study of 62 patients to determine the efficacy of a foot sole pump (the A-V Impulse System) for the prevention of pulmonary embolism (PE) after hip surgery. PE was assessed by pulmonary perfusion scintigraphy before and after operation. We defined a PE as any new scintigraphic defect which was larger than a bronchopulmonary segment.

The incidence of PE was 55% in the control group and 21% in the treatment group. The foot sole pump significantly reduced the incidence of PE (p = 0.008) and we encountered no side-effects from its use.