VENOUS FOOT PUMP PREVENTS VENOUS STASIS DURING LAPAROSCOPIC BARIATRIC SURGERY

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant professor of Surgery, Cairo University

2 Assistant professor of Radiology, Cairo University.

Abstract

Background: Sixty patients were included in a prospective randomized trial to evaluate the efficacy of AV-Impulse 
venous foot pump (AVI) of the lower extremities in preventing venous stasis during laparoscopic adjustable banding for 
obesity. 
Methods: The study included 60 patients with morbid obesity & were divided into two equal groups, the first group the 
AV-impulse venous foot pump (+AVI) was used to decrease venous stasis and not used in the second group (-AVI). Both 
groups had prophylactic low molecular weight heparin. Peak flow velocity (PFV) and cross- sectional area (CSA) of the right femoral vein were measured by Doppler ultrasound before, during, and after pneumoperitoneum with 14 mm Hg. 
Results: PFV was 26.3 cm/s and CSA was 1.03 cm2 before peumoperitoneum was induced. During abdominal insufflation, PFV decreased to 60% of the baseline value in the (-AVI) group but remained unchanged in the (+ AVI) group (p<0.05). CSA increased to 113% of the baseline in the (-AVI) group and did not change in the (+AVI) group ( p<0.01). PFV and CSA returned to baseline values within 5 min after abdominal desufflation. 
Conclusions: AV-Impulse system (AVI) effectively neutralizes venous stasis during laparoscopic surgery and may 
decrease the risk of postoperative thromboembolic complications. Therefore, it is recommended for all prolonged laparoscopic procedure especially for obese at high risk of developing thrombosis. 

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