Abstract
Purpose. To determine the prevalence of lower extremity deep venous thrombosis (LE-DVT) in children who spent at least 72 h in the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU).
Materials and methods. Children up to the age of 17 years who spent at least 72 h in the ICU underwent lower extremity venous ultrasound at the end of their stay. Prevalence range for the sample size was calculated with a confidence interval of 95%.
Results. Among 76 children who spent 3–141 days in the ICU, the prevalence of acute (and silent) DVT was 4 % (confidence interval 0–9 %). All three affected children had femoral venous catheters in that leg during their ICU stay (17 unaffected children also had catheters).
Conclusion. Children in an ICU setting are at significantly lower risk for thrombosis than adults in the same setting.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Behrman RE (1987) Nelson's textbook of pediatrics, 13th edn. Saunders, Philadelphia, p 1074
Leclere JR (1991) Venous thromboembolic disorders. Lea & Febiger, Philadelphia, pp 373–379
Browse NL, Burnand KG, Thomas ML (1988) Diseases of the veins: pathology, diagnosis, and treatment. Arnold, Baltimore, pp 301–323
Villavicencio JL, Gonzalez-Cerna IL (1985) Acute vascular problems of children. Yearbook Medical, Chicago, pp 45–47
Jeurgens JL, Spittell JA, Fairbairn JF (1980) Peripheral vascular disease. Saunders, Philadelphia, pp 809–814
Snedecor G, Cochran G (1989) Statistical methods, 8th edn. Iowa State University Press, Amos, pp 102–105
Bethea RM, Duran BS, Boullion TL (1985) Statistical methods for engineers and scientists, 2nd edn. Dekker, New York, pp 162–166
Jones DRB, Maclntyre IMC (1975) Venous thromboembolism in infancy and childhood. Arch Dis Child 50:153–155
Marcinski A, Barral V, Sauvegrain J (1985) Acquired deep venous thrombosis in children. Pediatr Radiol 15: 300–306
Nguyen LT, Laberge JM, Guttman FM, Albert D (1986) Spontaneous DVT in childhood and adolescence. J Pediatr Surg 21: 640–643
Wise RC, Todd JK (1973) Spontaneous, lower-extremity venous thrombosis in children. Am J Dis Child 126: 766–769
Perlmutt L, Fellows KE (1983) Lower extremity deep vein thrombosis in children. Pediatr Radiol 13: 266–268
Bernstein D, Coupey S, Schonberg SK (1986) Pulmonary embolism in adolescents. Am J Dis Child 140: 667–671
Leslie IJ, Dorgan JC, Bentley G, Galloway RW (1981) A prospective study of deep vein thrombosis of the leg in children on halo-femoral traction. J Bone Joint Surg [Br] 63: 168–170
Nicolaides AN, Dupont PA, Desai S, Lewis JD, Douglas JN, Dodsworth H, Fourides G, Luck RJ, Jamieson CW (1972) Small doses of subcutaneous sodium heparin in preventing deep vein thrombosis after major surgery. Lancet 2: 890–893
Gallus AS, Hirsh J, Tuttle RJ, Trebilcock R, O'Brien SE, Carroll JJ, Minden JH, Hudecki SM (1973) Small subcutaneous doses of heparin in prevention of venous thrombosis. N Engl J Med 288: 545–550
Stamatakis JD, Kakkar VV, Sagar S, Lawrence D, Nairn D, Bentley PG (1977) Femoral vein thrombosis and total hip replacement. Br Med J 2: 223–225
Sagar S, Nairn D, Stamatakis JD, et al (1976) Efficacy of low-dose heparin in prevention of extensive deep-vein thrombosis in patients undergoing total-hip replacement. Lancet 1: 1151–1154
Harris WH, Athanasoulis CA, Waltman AC, Salzman EW (1982) High and lowdose aspirin prophylaxis against venous thromboembolic disease in total hip replacement. J Bone Joint Surg [Am] 64: 63–66
Cronan JJ, Dorfman GS, Scola FH, Schepps B, Alexander J (1987) Deep venous thrombosis: US assessment using vein compression. Radiology 162: 191–194
Cronan JJ, Dorfman GS, Grusmark J (1988) US assessment of lower extremity DVT: further experience and refinements. Radiology 168: 101–107
Vogel P, Laing FC, Jeffrey RB, Wing VW (1987) Deep venous thrombosis of the lower extremity: US evaluation. Radiology 163: 747–751
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
DeAngelis, G.A., McIlhenny, J., Willson, D.F. et al. Prevalence of deep venous thrombosis in the lower extremities of children in the intensive care unit. Pediatr Radiol 26, 821–824 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01396209
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01396209