ABSTRACT
AIM: By assessing the impact of prolonged prophylactic anticoagulation on venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing total hip/ knee arthroplasty, we dared to hope to further clarify whetherprolonged prophylactic anticoagulation duration can benefit patients undergoing total hip/ knee arthroplasty. METHODS: The incidence of venous thromboembolism and bleeding events within 90 days of total hip/knee arthroplasty in patients who underwent total hip/knee arthroplasty in the department of orthopaedic surgery was retrospectively analyzed from January 2019 to April 2022. The Kaplan-Meier method survival curve was used to determine whether there is a relationship between the duration of prophylactic anticoagulation and the incidence of postoperative bleeding. RESULTS: A total of 115 patients undergoing primary total hip/knee surgery from January 2019 to April 2022, were enrolled in this study. Among them, there were 38 cases in the short-term prophylactic anticoagulation group and 77 cases in the extended prophylactic anticoagulation group. There were 23 cases (20%) of venous thromboembolism within 90 days after surgery, of which 12 cases (31.58%) were in the short-term anticoagulation group and 11 cases (14.29%) were in the extended anticoagulation group, and there was a statistical difference in the incidence of venous thromboembolism within 90 days after surgery between the two groups in terms of the duration of anticoagulation prevention. CONCLUSION: The results show a significant correlation between the duration of prophylactic anticoagulation and the incidence of venous thromboembolism within 90 days after total hip/knee arthroplasty, which suggests that prophylactic anticoagulation for 15-35 days after undergoing total hip arthroplasty or total knee arthroplasty reduces the incidence of postoperative VTE, and there is no significant difference in bleeding risk depending on the duration of anticoagulant prophylaxis.
ABSTRACT
The incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) including deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) is increasing in Korea. In addition, awareness of VTE according to the incidence is improving, but how long VTE should be treated and how effective VTE patients should be managed with warfarin is not well defined. Recently, various new oral anticoagulants (NOACs) were introduced in clinical practice. The duration of anticoagulation, quality control of warfarin, and practical use of NOACs in VTE would be reviewed with evidences.