Abstract: Objective To study the value of color Doppler ultrasound in diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of lower extremity and pulmonary embolism (PE) in spinal cord injury (SCI). Methods 60 PE patients (PE group) and 35 SCI patients without PE (control group) received color Doppler ultrasound examination for DVT of lower extremity. Results PE group included 36 SCI patients (PE-SCI group) and 24 no-SCI patients (PE-no-SCI group). There were 15 cases with lower extremity thrombosis in PE-SCI group, and 9 cases in PE-no-SCI group (P>0.05), while there were 5 cases in the control group. There was significantly different in lower extremity thrombosis between PE group and the control group (P<0.01). In PE group, the detection rate was not significantly different between acute PE (detected 11 cases out of 37 cases) and chronic PE (detected 10 cases out of 23 cases) (P>0.05). 31 cases were rechecked as lower extremity venous valve regurgitation and calf muscle vein dilation (51.7%) in PE group while 8 cases in the control group (22.9%) (P<0.01). Conclusion There is not significantly different in the detection rate of DVT of lower extremity in PE patients with and without spinal cord injury, which are higher than in the patients without PE. Color Doppler ultrasound is necessary to check DVT in acute and chronic PE patients.

Key words: pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, lower limbs, color Doppler flow imaging, spinal cord injury