Evaluation of Post-operative Venous Thromboembolism in Patients Undergoing Abdominal Surgery for Malignancy: A Single Centre Study

Abstract

Background: Abdominal malignancy is a well-known cause of death worldwide. Treatment of abdominal malignancy (AM) includes surgery, adjuvant and neoadjuvant chemo-radiotherapy according to the disease extend and stage of the disease. But like any surgeries, AM surgery has many complications. Among them venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a particular serious one which may lead to death of the patient. Methods and Materials: This study was conducted in National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh from January 2021 to December 2023.There was no venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis guideline in the institute. None of the patient received any standard VTE prophylaxis in the perioperative period. Statistical significance was A p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistical significant. Multivariable analysis using a binary logistic regression model was used to verify the independent risk factors for VTE in the post-operative patients.  Variables identified as having a potential association (p < 0.05) in a univariate analysis were entered into each multivariable analysis model. Results: A total of 113 patients who underwent surgery for AM were included in the study. Out of 113 patients, 11(9.73%) patients presented with DVT. Three patients (2.6%) had pulmonary embolism and all of them died in the post-operative period. Advanced age, prolong duration of surgery, advanced stage of disease, low albumin level, colorectal and gynecological surgery, elevated D-dimer level and high Caprini scores were independent predictors of post-surgical VTE. Conclusion: According to the current study post-operative VTE is a serious complication following malignant abdominal surgery. In AM patients, several factors were responsible for the development of post-operative VTE. In order to determine the predictors of post-surgical VTE, more extensive multicenter research should be carried out.