Comparative analysis of venous thromboembolic complications in diverse groups of orthopaedic patients

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is one of the most important and life-threatening complications in orthopaedic surgery. According to current scientific reports, there are several variables that can affect the severity of CVD, including the site of the pathology or the type of treatment implemented. The aim of the study was to analyze the risk of VTE depending on the location of the pathology, as well as to evaluate the impact of surgical treatment compared to conservative management.

Analysis of laboratory results and clinical picture of 276 patients hospitalized for orthopaedic reasons, admitted between January 2008 - December 2019, with suspected pulmonary embolism (PE).

Among patients diagnosed with PE, the most common location of the disease was in the lower limb 59/116 (50.9%), followed by the pelvis location - 22/116 (19.0%), the spine - 19/116 (16.4%), disseminated lesions in oncological patients - 12/116 (10.3%), and a group of pathologies in the upper limb - 4/116 (3.5%). Significant statistical differences were found between the incidence of PE and the diagnosis of pathology in the lower limb and the pelvis. In the group of patients, there was no statistically significant relationship between the incidence of PE associated with surgical treatment, compared to conservative management.

The group with the highest risk of VTE were lower limb and pelvic pathologies. The results are largely consistent with numerous reports treating the risk of CVD among orthopaedic patient populations.