The numbers of fat macroglobules in peripheral venous blood were
recorded for 136 prospectively studied patients with fractures of the
pelvis, femur, or tibia. Groups of healthy volunteers and patients
undergoing total hip replacement or abdominal surgery served as controls.
The highest incidence of fat macroglobulemia occurred in patients with
fractures of the femur who also had these clinical signs: petechiae,
hypoxia, and depression of the central nervous system. The peak incidence
occurred within the first eight hours after fracture. The over-all
incidence of fat macroglobulemia in the other surgical patients was roughly
equivalent to that in the fracture patients.