No abstract

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a major risk following total knee arthroplasty (TKA). This prospective outcomes study evaluates the efficacy of enoxaparin 40 mg once daily for 7 days after TKA, by documenting symptomatic and asymptomatic outcomes using bilateral lower extremity duplex ultrasound upon hospital discharge and on postoperative day 21 (±2). In 60 extremities, duplex ultrasound demonstrated a DVT prevalence of 16.7% (10) on the day of discharge and of 1 1 .7% (7) on postoperative day 21 . No new DVT or propagation of distal to proximal DVT were noted. For this small cohort, enoxaparin 40 mg daily demonstrates effective prophylaxis for DVT in TKA patients.

During the past 30 years, the unicompartmental knee arthroplasty has undergone growing pains with various implant designs, refining indications, and improving surgical techniques and instrumentation. Today, studies show survivorship results comparable to the tricompartmental total knee arthroplasty and a renewed interest has emerged. Even though the unicompartmental knee arthroplasty is recommended for only a select 10-15% who have osteoarthritis of the knee, it has many advantages over the total knee arthroplasty. Although the nursing care and rehabilitation are similar to the total knee arthroplasty, including wound care, prophylactic antibiotics, and venous thromboembolism prophylaxis, the patient frequently has less pain, increased range of motion, shorter hospitalization, and fewer complications, resulting in a quicker rehabilitation.