Venous Thromboembolism following Major Abdominal Surgery in Indian Population: A Single Center Experience
Abstract
Background: Postoperative venous thromboembolism is a proven major health problem in western countries. Hence there are specific guidelines advocating thromboprophylaxis in most cases. The few studies available regarding incidence in Indian patients provide conflicting data regarding the incidence of thromboembolism and need for thromboprophylaxis in our patients. In our study, we analysed the incidence of deep venous thrombosis in patients who underwent major abdominal surgeries over 5 years.
Materials & Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study among 757 patients admitted in the surgical wards of Government Medical College, Trivandrum from January 2005 to December 2009 and underwent major abdominal surgeries. From the data, the incidence of postoperative deep venous thrombosis was detected.
Results: Of the 757 patients studied, 0.92% developed deep venous thrombosis in the post-operative setting. No form of prophylaxis was found to be used in any of these patients.
Conclusion: It has been found in this study that the rate of postoperative DVT is negligible after major abdominal surgeries. This prompts us to say that routine chemical prophylaxis is an unnecessary intervention in Indian patients who undergo major abdominal operations and may be administered only in very high risk patients.
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