Predictive value of preoperative erythrocyte electrophoresis exponent for acute deep vein thrombosis after total knee arthroplasty in patients with knee osteoarthritis

BACKGROUND: Hemorheological parameters have been confirmed to be related with deep vein thrombosis (DVT). This study is aimed to verify whether preoperative erythrocyte electrophoresis exponent was associated with postoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT) risk after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in patients with primary knee osteoarthritis (KOA). METHODS: From March 2010 to May 2020, a total of 750 consecutive KOA patients who accepted unilateral TKA were enrolled. They were divided into DVT (176 patients) and non-DVT groups (574 patients) according to the examination results of the Doppler ultrasound of deep veins in both lower limbs on postoperative day 3. The Chi-square test, Student’s t test, and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed to analyze the correlation of erythrocyte electrophoresis exponent and DVT risk in 2 groups. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was used to assess predictive value of erythrocyte electrophoresis exponent for DVT. RESULTS: A low erythrocyte electrophoresis exponent was a significant risk factor for DVT in patients with primary KOA (p < 0.05), especially in females when stratified by gender (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that lower erythrocyte electrophoresis before surgery may be independently associated with a higher post-surgery DVT risk in primary KOA patients. It is necessary to optimize prophylaxis strategies for DVT in these patients.