Predicting of venous thromboembolism for patients undergoing gynecological surgery

The purpose of this study was to determine the risk stratification of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in patients undergoing gynecological surgery. A retrospective study was conducted with a cohort of 739 consecutive female patients undergoing gynecological surgery between May 2008 and July 2013 in Beijing Chao-yang hospital. DVT of the leg was detected using complete compression and color Doppler ultrasound. Pulmonary embolism (PE) was diagnosed by computed tomography pulmonary angiogram (CTPA). The overall incidence of DVT was 9.20% (68/739) in this patient population, including 16 (2.17%) symptomatic DVT and 52 (7.04%) silent DVT. A total of 66 (97.06%) DVT events were found within 7 days of surgery and 2 (2.94%) after 1 week. 94.82% thrombi were located in distal vein, and the rest 5.18% located in proximal and distal veins. Among the 68 patients with DVT, 46 patients with suspected PE received CTPA and 21 (45.65%) were confirmed with PE. Six independent factors including varicose vein, bed rest time ≥48 h, length of operation ≥3 h, laparotomy surgery, hypertension, and age ≥50 years significantly increased the incidence of postoperative DVT on multivariate analysis. Patients with none risk factor are at low risk, with 1 or 2 risk factors are at moderate risk, and with ≥3 factors are at high risk of DVT. The incidence of postoperative DVT and PE after gynecological surgery is high in patients with moderate or high-risk level. Noninvasive detection of DVT in 7 days after surgery is necessary because most patients showed no typical symptoms. Appropriate prophylaxis could be performed in patients at moderate or high risk of DVT.