The application of thromboelastography in risk stratification for selective thromboembolism prophylaxis after total...

As Asian populations, Chinese have a lower rate of high-risk gene mutations in venous thrombosis. Therefore, individual patient risk assessment, rather than a "blanket policy", is considered the best thromboembolism prophylaxis for Chinese. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of selective thromboembolism prophylaxis compared with conventional thromboembolism prophylaxis by risk stratification with thromboelastography (TEG) after joint arthroplasty in Chinese.

Between August 2016 to August 2017, Chinese patients who underwent hip or knee arthroplasty were randomly divided into a selective anticoagulation group (SAG) and a conventional anticoagulation group (CAG). Participants and outcome assessors were blinded. In the SAG, an anticoagulant was used when TEG indicated hypercoagulability; while in the CAG, an anticoagulant was regularly used until one month after surgery. Outcome evaluation included effectiveness (defined as the incidence of VTE), and safety (defined as the incidence of bleeding events, poor wound healing, blood loss, and infection).

A total of 197 patients (79 in the SAG and 118 in the CAG) were included in the study. There was 1 case of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in the SAG and 2 cases of DVT in the CAG, but there was no significant difference between the two groups. Hidden blood loss in the SAG was 707.4±539.8 mL and hidden blood loss in the CAG was 617±565.0 mL, respectively (P>0.05). No significant difference was observed in perioperative blood loss between the SAG and the CAG (1,024.9±597.9 and 1,139.3±620.9 mL, respectively). Volume of blood transfusion was 92.4±270.2 mL in the SAG and 224.6±416.3 mL in the CAG, respectively, while rate of transfusion was 13.9% in the SAG and 33.9% in the CAG, respectively, which were significantly different between the two groups (P<0.05).

In Chinese patients who underwent hip or knee arthroplasty, the efficacy of selective anticoagulation using TEG in risk stratification was comparable to that of conventional anticoagulation. Furthermore, the safety of selective anticoagulant prophylaxis was superior to that of conventional anticoagulant prophylaxis.