A significant proportion of venous thromboembolism events in general surgical patients occurs after discharge: analysis of the ACS-NSQIP Essentials database

Abdelghaffar K Salous; Ashraf Reyad; Karen Sweeney; Arun Mavanur

doi:10.1186/s13741-019-0131-1

A significant proportion of venous thromboembolism events in general surgical patients occurs after discharge: analysis of the ACS-NSQIP Essentials database

Perioper Med (Lond). 2019 Dec 13:8:18. doi: 10.1186/s13741-019-0131-1. eCollection 2019.

Authors

Abdelghaffar K Salous^{1

2}, Ashraf Reyad¹, Karen Sweeney¹, Arun Mavanur¹

Affiliations

¹ 1Department of General Surgery, Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Baltimore, MD USA.
² 2Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, 720 Rutland Avenue, Rm 749A, Baltimore, MD 21205 USA.

Abstract

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in general surgical patients.

Methods: The ACS-NSQIP database was queried and VTE data were collected and analyzed to assess the incidence of VTE at a 500-bed, non-profit, teaching, inner city, community hospital and similar peer institutions from January 1, 2006 to December 31, 2011.

Results: Post-discharge VTE events accounted for 40% of all VTE events within 30 days of discharge. Data show a significant proportion of post-discharge VTE events that may be preventable with extending VTE prophylaxis in the post-discharge period.

Conclusion: This is the first paper to report on this high post-discharge incidence of VTE in general surgical patients and to recommend continuation of VTE prophylaxis in the post-discharge period.

Keywords: Chemoprophylaxis; NSQIP; Pulmonary embolism; Venous thromboembolism.