To The Editor:
The purpose of this letter is to point out an error in the article,
"Specialty Update. What's New in Adult Reconstructive Knee
Surgery"
(2004;86:1839-49), by Archibeck
and White. On page 1842, the
authors quote my 2004 podium presentation at the Knee Society dealing with a
prospective randomized study of two types of mechanical compression devices to
prevent thromboembolism after knee arthroplasty. It was stated, in the article
by Archibeck and White, that there was one fatal pulmonary embolism in the
group treated with the circumferential calf-compression device.
At the podium, I reported that there was one fatal myocardial infarction
and one nonfatal pulmonary embolism in the group managed with the
circumferential calf-compression device. There were no fatal thromboembolic
complications in this group. The full manuscript appeared in the November
issue of the British edition of The Journal of Bone and Joint
Surgery1.
M.J. Archibeck and R.E. White Jr. reply:
We sincerely apologize, and we greatly appreciate your bringing our error
to our attention. As you indicated, we incorrectly reported
(page 1842) that there was one
fatal pulmonary embolism in your study. In fact, there was one fatal
myocardial infarction and one nonfatal pulmonary embolism in the group treated
with a circumferential calf-compression device.
Lachiewicz PF, Kelley SS, Haden LR. Two
mechanical devices for prophylaxis of thromboembolism after total knee
arthroplasty. A prospective, randomised study. J Bone Joint Surg
Br.2004;86:
1137-41.861137
2004
[CrossRef]