Venous thromboembolism in emergency general surgery patients: a single-centre retrospective cohort study |
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| Authors: | Mei Yang Patrick B. Murphy Laura Allen Nathalie Sela Shaylan Govind Ken Leslie Kelly Vogt |
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| Affiliation: | From the Division of General Surgery, Department of Surgery, Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry, Western University, London, Ont. (Yang, Murphy, Sela, Govind, Leslie, Vogt); and the London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ont. (Allen) |
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| Abstract: | BackgroundThere is limited literature on the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in emergency general surgery (EGS) patients. We undertook this study to identify the rate of symptomatic VTE for patients undergoing EGS operations.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective cohort study evaluating EGS patients who underwent operative intervention between March and December 2014. Data collected included patient demographics, type of procedure, risk of VTE, VTE prophylaxis, development of symptomatic VTE, and mortality.ResultsWe included 767 patients in our analysis. The mean age was 53 ± 19.7 years, and 52.2% of patients were female. Eighteen patients (2.3%) experienced VTE in hospital and 12 (1.6%) experienced VTE after discharge. Only 66% of patients received appropriate VTE prophylaxis. High-risk patients had a higher VTE rate (7.4% v. 2.3%, p < 0.001) and higher mortality (17.6% v. 4.0%, p < 0.001) than low-to moderate-risk patients.ConclusionThe risk of VTE in patients requiring EGS is significant and persists after hospital discharge. Further studies on quality improvement with VTE prophylaxis are warranted. |
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