Elevated D-Dimer Is Not Predictive of Symptomatic Deep Venous Thrombosis After Total Joint Arthroplasty

摘要

Background: Serum D-dimer is a common screening test for symptomatic deep venous thrombosis (DVT) after total joint arthroplasty. This study characterized the longitudinal resolution of D-dimer measurements after total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA) over a 6-week period. The authors hypothesized that serum D-dimer would not return to baseline or be below the institutional threshold for a positive test at 6 weeks after uncomplicated total joint arthroplasty, suggesting that quantitative D-dimer has limited clinical utility for postoperative DVT screening.