Could sodium imbalances predispose to postoperative venous thromboembolism? An analysis of the NSQIP database

Hyponatremia is common among patients with pulmonary embolism, while hypernatremia increases the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Our objective was to evaluate the association between sodium imbalances and the incidence of VTE and other selected perioperative outcomes.

We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (ACS NSQIP) and identified 1,108,704 patients undergoing major surgery from 2008 to 2012. We evaluated 30-day perioperative outcomes, including mortality and cardiac, respiratory, neurological, urinary, wound, and VTE outcomes. Multivariate logistic regressions were used to estimate the odds of 30-day perioperative outcomes.

Compared with the normal sodium group, in which VTE occurred in 1.0% of patients, 1.8% of patients in the hyponatremia group (unadjusted odds ratio (OR) 1.84) and 2.4% of patients in the hypernatremia group (unadjusted OR 2.49) experienced VTE. Crude mortality was 1.3% in the normal sodium group, 4.9% in the hyponatremia group (unadjusted OR 3.93) and 8.4% in the hypernatremia group (unadjusted OR 7.01). Crude composite morbidity was 7.1% for the normal sodium group, 16.7% for the hyponatremia group (unadjusted OR 2.63) and 20.6% for the hypernatremia group (unadjusted OR 3.43). After adjusting for potential confounders, hyponatremia and hypernatremia remained significantly and independently associated with an increased risk of VTE (adjusted OR 1.43 and 1.56, respectively), mortality (adjusted OR 1.39 and 1.39, respectively) and composite morbidity (adjusted OR 2.15 and 3.34, respectively).

Pre-operative hyponatremia and hypernatremia are potential prognostic markers for perioperative 30-day morbidity, mortality and VTE.