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The role of strain gauge plethysmography in the assessment of patients with suspected deep vein thrombosis
Author(s) -
Robinson Brian J.,
Kesteven Patrick J. L.,
Elliott Simon T.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
british journal of haematology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.907
H-Index - 186
eISSN - 1365-2141
pISSN - 0007-1048
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2141.2002.03615.x
Subject(s) - plethysmograph , medicine , deep vein , thrombosis , referral , radiology , surgery , family medicine
Summary. Suspicion of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a common reason for medical referral to hospital. Clinical signs and symptoms are notoriously unreliable, hence there is the need for objective testing. Strain gauge plethysmography (SGP) has been marketed as a technique for excluding lower limb DVT. We therefore set out to evaluate this screening tool. Over a 2 year period, 437 consecutive patients referred with suspected DVT were assessed using both plethysmography and Doppler ultrasound. When the two techniques were compared, plethysmography was found to have a negative predictive value of 90%. We conclude that strain gauge plethysmography has a role in the screening of patients with suspected DVT but should not be used as the sole method in patient assessment.