Background: Venous thrombosis of deep vein is a serious life threatening condition that may lead to sudden death in short term or to long term morbidity due to development of a post thrombotic limb and venous ulceration. The most frequent location of deep vein thrombosis is in the lower limb. In 10% of patients who die in hospital, the cause of death is pulmonary embolism following a lower limb deep vein thrombosis. In India, the incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is not well highlighted and literature survey shows little works in this field.

Objectives: To study patterns of clinical presentation, etiology and management of deep vein thrombosi of lower limb..

Material & Methods: A 2 year study of DVT in lower limb conducted at Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College Hospital, Gaya, Bihar, India. Patients were admitted from both surgery OPD as well as from Central Casualty. The risk factors, response to treatment, clinical course were documented using physical examination and relevant laboratory tests at regular intervals. The data was prospectively analyzed.

Conclusion: Most of the DVTs are idiopathic or primary and occur in less than 45 years age group. Irrespective of the etiology, LMWH and Warfarins are efficient, safety is well recognised, and home based treatment is advisable with follow up. Idiopathic DVTs require long term follow up to watch for recurrent thrombosis. Further studies are necessary to stratify risks, and incidence in Indian population.

Keywords: Deep Vein Thrombosis, India, Low molecular weight heparins, Warfarin, VTE, DVT.

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Rajiv Ranjan

Department of Surgery, A.N.M.M. College Hospital, Gaya, Bihar, India

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