Abstract

A short cut review was carried out to establish whether the risk of a venous thromboembolic event could be quantified for patients with temporary immobilisation of the lower limb after injury. Five papers were directly relevant to the question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these papers are tabulated. The clinical bottom line is that the incidence of venous thromboembolism following temporary immobilisation for isolated lower limb trauma in ambulatory patients is approximately 11%.