Haas SB, Insall JN, Scuderi GR, Windsor RE, Ghelman B.
Pneumatic sequential-compression boots compared with aspirin prophylaxis of deep
vein thrombosis after total knee arthrosplasty.
J Bone Joint Surg Am1990 Jan;72(1):27-31

Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, NY 10021.

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.