2 THE JOURNAL OF BONE AND JOINT SURGERY Dihydroergotamine/Heparin in the Prevention of Deep-Vein Thrombosis after Total Hip Replacement A CONTROLLED, PROSPECTIVE, RANDOMIZED MULTICENTER TRIAL*t

ABSTRACT: In a randomized, double-blind, pla-cebo-controlled multicenter trial, the efficacy and safety of dihydroergotamine mesylate/heparin sodium as a pro-phylactic agent for deep-vein thrombosis were evaluated in 148 patients who were forty years old or more and who underwent total hip replacement. The incidence of venographically proved postoperative deep-vein throm-bosis was 52 per cent in the placebo group and 25 per cent in the dihydroergotamine mesylate/heparin sodium group (p = 0.002). Proximal thrombi developed in only 5 per cent and extensive thrombi, in only 10 per cent of the patients who received dihydroergotamine mesy-late/heparin sodium. In contrast, proximal thrombi and extensive thrombi developed in 19 and 25 per cent, re-spectively, of the patients in the placebo group (p &lt