A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Risk of Venous Thromboembolic Events in Parkinson's Patients

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder affecting more than 10 million people worldwide. The actual prevalence and relative risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in PD have not been systematically examined, especially in various study designs and surgical settings. To address this gap in knowledge, we conducted a meta-analysis on the risk of VTE and in PD.

We searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane from inception to 22 June 2024 to identify cross-sectional, cohort, and case-control studies comparing the frequency of VTE, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) events in PD and non-PD patients. We computed risk ratios (RR) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each study and pooled results using a random-effects meta-analysis. Quality assessment was performed using Joanna Briggs Institute Critical Appraisal Tools.

Out of 758 studies screened initially, 13 studies involving 775,144 patients were included. VTE risk was elevated (RR 1.73, 95% CI 1.47-2.04) when comparing PD patients to non-PD patients. In subgroup analysis comparing neurological and non-neurological surgeries, there was no significant (p = 0.11) difference in VTE risk. Cross-sectional studies had a higher elevated VTE risk (RR 5.43, 95% CI 3.40-8.67) when compared to case-control (RR 1.58, 95% CI 1.14-2.20) and cohort (RR 1.50, 95% CI 1.22-1.84) studies (p < 0.01).

Our meta-analysis showed an elevated risk of VTE events in PD patients. There was no significant difference between neurological and non-neurological surgeries in the incidence of VTE. Greater vigilance should be exercised to detect VTE events early in PD patients due to impaired mobility.