Risk factors for venous thromboembolism following surgical treatment of fractures: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

This study aimed to determine the risk factors for postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients treated surgically for fractures using a meta‐analytic approach. Electronic searches were performed in PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane library from inception until February 2022. The odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) were applied to calculate the pooled effect estimate using the random‐effects model. Sensitivity, subgroup, and publication bias tests were also performed. Forty‐four studies involving 3 239 291 patients and reporting 11 768 VTE cases were selected for the meta‐analysis. We found that elderly (OR: 1.72; 95% CI: 1.38‐2.15; P < .001), American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) ≥ 3 (OR: 1.82; 95% CI: 1.46‐2.29; P < .001), blood transfusion (OR: 1.82; 95% CI: 1.14‐2.92; P = .013), cardiovascular disease (CVD) (OR: 1.40; 95% CI: 1.22‐1.61; P < .001), elevated D‐dimer (OR: 4.55; 95% CI: 2.08‐9.98; P < .001), diabetes mellitus (DM) (OR: 1.36; 95% CI: 1.19‐1.54; P < .001), hypertension (OR: 1.31; 95% CI: 1.09‐1.56; P = .003), immobility (OR: 3.45; 95% CI: 2.23‐5.32; P < .001), lung disease (LD) (OR: 2.40; 95% CI: 1.29‐4.47; P = .006), obesity (OR: 1.52; 95% CI: 1.27‐1.82; P < .001), peripheral artery disease (PAD) (OR: 2.13; 95% CI: 1.21‐3.73; P = .008), prior thromboembolic event (PTE) (OR: 5.17; 95% CI: 3.14‐8.50; P < .001), and steroid use (OR: 2.37; 95% CI: 1.73‐3.24; P < .001) were associated with an increased risk of VTE. Additionally, regional anaesthesia (OR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.45‐0.96; P = .029) was associated with a reduced risk of VTE following surgical treatment of fractures. However, alcohol intake, cancer, current smoking, deep surgical site infection, fusion surgery, heart failure, hypercholesterolemia, liver and kidney disease, sex, open fracture, operative time, preoperative anticoagulant use, rheumatoid arthritis, and stroke were not associated with the risk of VTE. Post‐surgical risk factors for VTE include elderly, ASA ≥ 3, blood transfusion, CVD, elevated D‐dimer, DM, hypertension, immobility, LD, obesity, PAD, PTE, and steroid use.