Aily) during the inpatient stay, and to discharge the patient home on oral Dabigatran for the remainder of the recommended timeframes. There are two dosing levels of Dabigatran: 220 mg is the standard dose, with a recommendation for patients PubMed ID:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14960617 over the age of 75 years and/or `moderate' renal failure (creatinine clearance 30-50 ml/min), and/or patients on concomitant Amiodarone and Verapamil, to have the lower dose of 150 mg daily [11]. The decision was made to use the low dose (150 mg) for all patients, as a large proportion of our patients were either over the age of 75 years or had moderate renal impairment, and this would simplify prescribing regimes for the high turnover of departmental junior doctor staff. The aim of this study therefore was to evaluate the outcomes of PubMed ID:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/744568 our VTE protocol and compare the results to the published literature.more than 200 ml collected in the drain during the first 6 hours post operatively. The following patients were excluded from this study on the basis of bias or because these patients were contraindicated to receiving Dabigatran for thrombo-prophylaxis: Patients on Warfarin preoperatively, Patients with bleeding diathesis, patients requiring revision hip or knee arthroplasty, patients with deranged liver function tests (Liver enzyme blood tests: Alanine transaminase, Alkaline phosphatase and Aspartate transaminase, which were greater than 2 units above the upper normal limit), patients on Quinidine and patients with renal failure with a creatinine clearance of less than 30 ml/min. There were a total of 58 patients (14.7 ) excluded from this study (40 were due to revision arthroplasty). To ensure all possible clinical thromboembolic events were recorded, the hospital databases for the VTE clinic (where all patients with DVT or PE are treated locally), PACS radiology system for positive duplex and computer tomography assisted pulmonary angiogram scans and the electronic medical notes for all patients were all reviewed by an independent observer (a qualified orthopaedic surgical trainee MBBS, MRCS). 4,4,5,5-Tetramethyl-2-(2-methylprop-1-en-1-yl)-1,3,2-dioxaborolane The data collection was complete.Materials and methods All patients undergoing primary hip or knee arthroplasty between March 2010 and March 2011 were prescribed the aforementioned regime post operatively (Dalteparin 5000 u subcutaneously whilst an inpatient, and Dabigatran 150 mg once daily orally on discharge for 14 days for knees and 28 days for hips). The Dalteparin commenced the evening of the day of surgery at 1800 for morning operations, and at 0800 the following morning for evening operations. Data concerning clinical DVT rate, clinical PE rate, mortality, wound ooze/discharge, Haemoglobin (Hb) drop, transfusion rate, infection rate and other complications was collected prospectively, and reviewed by an independent observer at 1 year. The patient population was operated upon by 7 Consultants and 2 Associate Specialists in a standard District General Hospital (DGH) setting. The types of implants (by individual surgeon preference) were, for knees: Cemented Scorpio knees (Stryker, Newbury, UK), Uncemented LCS knees (Depuy, Leeds, UK). For the hips: Cemented Exeter (Stryker), and Uncemented Trident-Accolade (Stryker) or Uncemented Furlong (JRI 3-Bromo-5-chloro-2-fluoroaniline Ltd, Sheffield, UK). All knee replacements had a re-transfusion drain (Bellovac, Astra Tech Healthcare, Gloucestershire UK) and received autotransfusion ifResults We had a DVT rate overall of 1.19 (4 patients) Figure 1. There were no PE's. The majority of DVT's occu.