Elevated d-Dimer Is Not Predictive of Symptomatic Deep Venous Thrombosis After Total Joint Arthroplasty

The results suggest that serum d-dimer is an ineffective screening test for the diagnosis of symptomatic DVT in the acute postoperative period. The authors propose that extravascular fibrinolysis, a process essential for wound healing, has a crucial role in the prolonged elevation of serum d-dimer in the postoperative period.