Total hip replacement and antithrombotic prophylaxis

Abstract

British orthopaedic surgeons were surveyed to assess the practice of prophylaxis against thromboembolism in patients undergoing total hip replacements. Of 690 surgeons, 348 (50.4%) do not routinely use pharmacological prophylaxis (190 use no prophylaxis while 158 use a mechanical form of prophylaxis), 289 (41.9%) surgeons use a single pharmacological agent (with or without a mechanical form of prophylaxis), and the remaining 53 (7.7%) use two or more pharmacological agents.