Butson AR.
Intermittent pneumatic calf compression for prevention of deep venous thrombosis
in general abdominal surgery.
Am J Surg 1981 Oct;142(4):525-7

A prospective randomized trial is described in 119 patients undergoing major
abdominal general surgical procedures. Half of the patients were treated
prophylactically with intermittent pneumatic calf compression, begun after the
induction of anesthesia and continued until the patient was walking; the other
half acted as controls. Deep venous thrombosis was detected by iodine-125
fibrinogen scanning and confirmed by venography, and did not differ significantly
in the control and treated groups. One fatal pulmonary embolism occurred in each
group. The presence of malignancy of the gastrointestinal tract did not influence
the results. The findings suggest that pneumatic compression delayed the
development of deep venous thrombosis postoperatively and that perhaps it should
be continued until discharge from hospital.