Differences in mortality after fracture of hip. Doubt remains over anticoagulant prophylaxis for deep venous thrombosis.

Doubt remains over anticoagulant prophylaxis for deep venous thrombosis EDITOR,--Anticoagulant prophylaxis may reduce the incidence of venous thromboembolism in hospital, but C J Todd and colleagues' study does not dispel doubts about its overall effect on mortality.1 There was no significant difference between the survival rate at 90 days (82.2% at the four hospitals that routinely gave such prophylaxis (to 79.5% of patients)) and 82.0% at the other four hospitals (prophylaxis given to only 16.1%) despite the fact that 62.3% of patients in the former hospitals had surgery within 24 hours (favourable …