Venous thromboembolism incidence in head and neck surgery patients: Analysis of the Veterans Affairs Surgical Quality Improvement Program (VASQIP) database

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), which consists of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is the most common preventable cause of mortality in hospitalized patients, accounting for approximately 10% of annual hospital deaths [1,2]. VTE is particularly common post-operatively, as surgery can increase the risk 20-fold [3]. Without prophylaxis, VTE incidence in many surgical patients is estimated to be 15 –40% [2]. Certain subsets of surgical patients are known to have an even greater risk of VTE – for example, oncology patients undergoing surgical resection experience an estimated 2 times higher incidence of VTE, as well as increased associated mortality [2–6].

Source: Oral Oncology - December 15, 2017 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Alia Mowery, Tyler Light, Daniel Clayburgh Source Type: research