This prospective, randomized study was undertaken to compare the
effectiveness of pneumatic sequential-compression boots with that of
aspirin in preventing deep-vein thrombosis after total knee arthroplasty.
Patients were randomly assigned to one of two prophylactic regimens:
compression boots or aspirin. One hundred and nineteen patients completed
the study. Seventy-two patients had unilateral arthroplasty and
forty-seven, one-stage bilateral arthroplasty. In the unilateral group, the
incidence of deep-vein thrombosis was 22 per cent for the patients who used
compression boots compared with 47 per cent for those who received aspirin
(p less than 0.03). In the bilateral group, the incidence of deep-vein
thrombosis was 48 per cent for the patients who used compression boots
compared with 68 per cent for those who received aspirin (p less than
0.20). The results confirm the effectiveness of compression boots in the
treatment of patients who have had unilateral total knee arthroplasty.
Despite the use of compression boots, however, patients who had bilateral
arthroplasty were at greater risk for the development of deep-vein
thrombosis.