Incidence of COVID-19-Associated Venous Thromboembolism Among Hospitalized Patients in McAllen, Texas, USA, in Late 2021

This study investigated the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in a community hospital in McAllen, Texas, USA. Such incidence was reported to be as high as 31% in early 2020, and in the range of 3.1%-13.6% in mid-2020, with no later studies addressing this issue. We identified a total of 47 COVID-19 hospitalized patients during August 2021, among whom four (8.5%) had a documented VTE. They were all on prophylactic anticoagulation from the time of admission, and none of them had disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) or a prior history of VTE. The incidence was equal between ICU and non-ICU patients. Pre-existing hypertension and cardiovascular diseases, but not high body mass index (BMI) or diabetes mellitus, appeared to be among risk factors for VTE in these patients. All four VTE patients were of Hispanic ethnicity, while only half of all 47 patients were Hispanic. The study concluded that in late 2021 the rate of VTE remained to be higher in COVID-19 than non-COVID-19 patients in hospitals despite routine and early implementation of prophylactic anticoagulation in this patient population.