Systemic Anticoagulation and Inpatient Outcomes of Pancreatic Cancer: Real-World Evidence from U.S. Nationwide Inpatient Sample

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Pancreatic cancer is known to cause a hypercoagulable state and increase the risk of thrombosis. While long-term systemic anticoagulation is a treatment option to reduce this risk, its effectiveness remains ambiguous. In this retrospective study, data from the U.S. Nationwide Inpatient Sample database were extracted and compared statistically to find the solution. The results showed that pancreatic cancer patients who had received long-term systemic anticoagulant had a lower risk of sepsis, shock, acute kidney injury, and in-hospital mortality, and a shorter hospital stay. The results suggest that long-term systemic anticoagulation should be considered as a treatment option for pancreatic cancer patients. ABSTRACT: Background: Pancreatic cancer can induce a hypercoagulable state which may lead to clinically apparent thrombosis. However, the effect of anticoagulants remains ambiguous. This study aimed to investigate the potential effect of long-term systemic anticoagulant usage on hospitalization outcomes of patients with pancreatic cancer. Methods: This retrospective study extracted all data from the U.S. Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database from 2005 to 2018. We included hospitalized adults ≥18 years old with a pancreatic cancer diagnosis identified by International Classification of Diseases ninth revision (ICD-9) and tenth revision (ICD-10) codes. We utilized diagnostic codes ICD9 V58.61 and ICD10 Z79.01, i.e., ‘long-term use of anticoagulant’, to identify individuals who were on a long-term systemic anticoagulant. The study cohort were then further grouped as being with or without long-term systemic use of an anticoagulant. Propensity score matching was performed to balance the characteristics of the two groups. The risks of life-threatening events, e.g., acute myocardial infarction (AMI), acute heart failure (AHF), sepsis, shock, and acute kidney injury (AKI), in-hospital death, and prolonged length of stay (LOS) in the hospital were compared between the groups by univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses. Results: The study population consisted of 242,903 hospitalized patients with pancreas cancer, 6.5% (n = 15,719) of whom were on long-term systemic anticoagulants. A multivariable regression analysis showed that long-term systemic anticoagulant use was independently associated with lower odds of sepsis (aOR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.76–0.85), shock (aOR: 0.59, 95% CI: 0.51–0.68), AKI (aOR: 0.86, 95% CI: 0.81–0.91), in-hospital mortality (aOR: 0.65, 95% CI: 0.60–0.70), and prolonged LOS (aOR: 0.84, 95% CI: 0.80–0.89). Conclusions: Long-term systemic anticoagulant use is associated with better clinical outcomes in terms of decreased risks of some life-threatening events, in-hospital death, and prolonged LOS among hospitalized patients with pancreatic cancer in the U.S.