The High Incidence of Deep Vein Thrombosis in Tsunami-Flooded Area after the Great East Japan Earthquake

概要

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After the Great East-Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011 there were more than 70,000 people who were suffered from earthquake in the area of Ishinomaki. The high incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in the evacuees has been recognized since Niigata-Cyuetsu Earthquake in 2004, therefore, we examined candidates for calf DVT using portable sonography. Surprisingly, we found high incidence of DVT as 45.6% in March, which was higher than previously reported. Also we found 6.8% of elders in the shelters were reduced the degree of independent living to need nursing care and the incidence of DVT was obviously higher in the tsunami-flooded shelters than non-flooded (36.4% and 20.7%, expectively). According to our observasion, we suposed the reasons of high incidence of DVT in Ishinomaki area as; the crowded shelter might reduce the activity of senior evacuees, and the worsening of sanitary conditions in the tsunami-flooded shelters might induce dehydration secondary to diarrhea and vomiting and restriction of water intake for avoiding unsanitary toilet. Our survey revealed that evacuees in unsanitary and crowded shelters have multiple, serious risks for DVT. Therefore, we recommend not setting up the shelters in flooded areas after disasters.