Special stockings commonly given to stroke patients to prevent blood clots have little effect, finds a new study in the journal, The Lancet.
The study found that not only did the stockings not reduce the chances of a clot, they caused problems like skin ulcers and blisters.
Doctors often prescribe tight, thigh-high compression stockings to patients who have suffered a stroke and cannot walk.
The stockings are often used in place of, or alongside, anti-clotting drugs such as heparin. The thought was that they prevented blood clots from forming in patients' legs and travelling to the lungs or heart, where they can be fatal.
But British researchers say that may not be the case. They looked at 2,518 stroke patients in Australia, Britain and Italy. All received routine care, which included aspirin and assisted exercise. Half the group were also offered compression stockings.
Doctors took an ultrasound of patients' legs seven to 10 days after they started using the stockings, and then again after 25 to 30 days.
Ten per cent of those not using the stockings developed blood clots, compared to 10.5 per cent among those who did - a difference note considered statistically significant.
In the group wearing stockings, five per cent also reported side effects such as skin problems and blisters. That compares to just one per cent in the group not given the stockings.
The results were simultaneously published in the Lancet and presented at the European Stroke Conference in Stockholm on Wednesday.
Dr. Martin Dennis, University of Edinburgh, who led the study, said the results will have a great effect on patient care in Britain, where up to 90 per cent of stroke units use the stockings.
"In this study, we have shown conclusively that compression stockings do not work for stroke patients," he said.
"Abandoning this ineffective and sometimes uncomfortable treatment will free up significant health resources -- both funding and nurse time, which might be better used to help stroke patients."
