Incidence and risk factors of preoperative deep vein thrombosis in patients with intertrochanteric fractures: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND: The risk of perioperative complications remains high in patients with intertrochanteric fractures. Immobilization after injury may predispose these patients to deep vein thrombosis (DVT) while waiting for surgery. The aims of this study were to determine the incidence of preoperative DVT in patients with intertrochanteric fractures and identify independent risk factors. METHODS: This retrospective study included patients with intertrochanteric fractures waiting for surgical interventions at our institution from June 2018 to December 2020. All patients received pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis after admission and ultrasound screening for DVT in both lower limbs before surgery. Demographic, clinical and laboratory data of these patients were collected to perform univariate analysis first. Subsequently, factors with a significant difference in univariate analysis were introduced into the multivariate logistic regression analysis to determine the independent risk factors for preoperative DVT. RESULTS: A total of 266 patients were enrolled in this study. Seventy-one patients (26.7%) developed DVTs before surgery. The majority of DVTs were distal types (91.5%). There were 40 patients with DVTs only in the affected limb, 7 patients with DVTs only in the unaffected limb, and 24 patients with DVTs in both lower limbs. Advanced age, female, prolonged period from injury to admission, combined cranial trauma, shorter thrombin time, increased level of D-dimer and lower level of albumin proved to be the independent risk factors for preoperative DVT. CONCLUSIONS: We observed a high incidence of preoperative DVT in patients with intertrochanteric fractures. Identification of patients at high risk may improve the prevention and treatment of preoperative DVT in this population.