Location of lower extremity deep venous thrombosis and incidence of pulmonary embolism in patients with lower extremity fracture during hospitalization / 中华创伤骨科杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the association between location of lower extremity deep venous thrombosis and incidence of pulmonary embolism in patients with lower extremity fracture during hospitalization.Methods:A retrospective study was conducted of the 1,620 patients who had been treated for lower extremity fracture and deep vein thrombosis from October 2014 to November 2019 at Department of Orthopaedic Trauma, Honghui Hospital. They were 726 males and 894 females, aged from 18 to 98 years (average, 64.0 years). By the anatomical location of thrombosis, they were divided into a proximal thrombosis group and a distal thrombosis group; by the laterality of thrombosis, they were divided into a bilateral thrombosis group and a unilateral thrombosis group which was further divided into a left thrombosis subgroup and a right thrombosis subgroup. The incidences of pulmonary embolism were compared between 2 corresponding groups and subgroups.Results:Pulmonary embolism occurred in 13 of the 1,400 patients with distal thrombosis and in 12 of the 220 patients with proximal thrombosis; the incidence of pulmonary embolism in the proximal thrombosis group (5.45%, 12/220) was significantly higher than that in the distal thrombosis group (0.93%, 13/1,400) ( P<0.001). Pulmonary embolism occurred in 10 of the 337 patients with bilateral thrombosis and in 15 of the 1,283 patients with unilateral thrombosis; the incidence of pulmonary embolism in the bilateral thrombosis subgroup (2.97%, 10/337) was significantly higher than that in the unilateral thrombosis group (1.17%, 15/1,283) ( P=0.017). Pulmonary embolism occurred in 5 of the 677 patients with left thrombosis and in 10 of the 606 patients with right thrombosis; the incidence of pulmonary embolism in the right thrombosis subgroup (1.65%, 10/606) was insignificantly higher than that in the left thrombosis subgroup (0.74%, 5/677) ( P=0.129). Conclusions:In patients with lower extremity fracture, those with proximal or bilateral thrombosis are more prone to pulmonary embolism than those with distal or unilateral thrombosis, but the possibility of pulmonary embolism cannot be ignored clinically in those with distal or unilateral thrombosis.