Relationship between deep venous thrombosis and inflammatory cytokines in postoperative patients with malignant abdominal tumors

Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) is a common surgical complication in cancer patients andevidence that inflammation plays a role in the occurrence of DVT is increasing. Westudied a population of cancer patients with abdominal malignancies with the aim ofinvestigating whether the levels of circulating inflammatory cytokines wereassociated with postoperative DVT, and to determine the levels in DVT diagnoses. Theserum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), interleukins (IL)-6 and IL-10, nucleartranscription factor-κB (NF-κB) and E-selectin (E-Sel) were determined in 120individuals, who were divided into 3 groups: healthy controls, patients with andpatients without DVT after surgery for an abdominal malignancy. Data were analyzed byANOVA, Dunnet''s T3 test, chi-square test, and univariate and multivariate logisticregression as needed. The CRP, IL-6, NF-κB, and E-Sel levels in patients with DVTwere significantly higher than those in the other groups (P<0.05). The IL-10 levelwas higher in patients with DVT than in controls but lower than in patients withoutDVT. Univariate analysis revealed that CRP, IL-6, NF-κB, and E-Sel were statisticallyassociated with the risk of DVT (OR=1.98, P=0.002; OR=1.17, P=0.000; OR=1.03,P=0.042; and OR=1.38, P=0.003; respectively), whereas IL-10 had a protective effect(OR=0.94, P=0.011). Multivariate analysis showed that E-Sel was an independent riskfactor (OR=1.41, P=0.000). Thus, this study indicated that an increased serum levelof E-Sel was associated with increased DVT risk in postoperative patients withabdominal malignancy, indicating that E-Sel may be a useful predictor of diagnosis ofDVT.