In-Hospital Mortality with Deep Venous Thrombosis

Little is known about the in-hospital mortality of deep venous thrombosis in recent years. This investigation was undertaken to determine trends in in-hospital mortality in patients with deep venous thrombosis and mortality according to age.

Administrative data were analyzed from the National (Nationwide) Inpatient Sample, 2003-2012. We determined in-hospital all-cause mortality according to year and age among patients with a primary (first-listed) diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis. We analyzed all such patients and we analyzed those who had none of the comorbid conditions listed in the Charlson Comorbidity Index.

From 2003-2012, 1,603,690 hospitalized patients had a primary diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis. All-cause in-hospital mortality decreased from 1.3% in 2003 to 0.6% in 2012. Mortality increased with age from 0.1% in those aged 18-20 years to 1.5% in those over age 80 years. All-cause in-hospital mortality in those with no comorbid conditions according to the Charlson Comorbidity Index (1,094,184 patients) decreased from 1.1% in 2003 to 0.5% in 2012. Presumably, these deaths were from pulmonary embolism. All-cause mortality in those with no comorbid conditions increased with age from 0.1% in those aged 18-20 years to 1.4% in those over aged 80 years.

All-cause death and death due to pulmonary embolism in patients hospitalized with a primary diagnosis of deep venous thrombosis decreased from 2003-2012. The death rate increased with age. The decreased mortality over the period of investigation may have resulted from a shift toward use of low-molecular-weight heparins and newer anticoagulants.