PULMONARY EMBOLI FOLLOWING TOTAL HIP-ARTHROPLASTY - INCIDENCE STUDY

Total hip arthroplasty patients (25) were compared with 25 patients who underwent other operations on the lower extremity, regarding evidence of pulmonary embolism as determined preoperatively and postoperatively from lung perfusion scans, ventilation scans and pulmonary angiography. Blood gases and serum enzymes also were studied. The overall incidence of pulmonary embolism was 6%, despite the absence of clinical evidence of that complication. Abnormalities in scans and blood studies were common preoperatively, so that the diagnosis often depended on the detection of additional abnormalities postoperatively.