Prevalence of Venous Thromboembolism in Intensive Care Units: A Meta-Analysis

Objective: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a life threating complication in intensive care units (ICUs). This study aimed to pool the prevalence of VTE and examined the risk factors of VTE in intensive care patients worldwide. Methods: A systematic search in PubMed, EMBASE and Web of Science databases was performed. Studies reported that the data on the prevalence of VTE or relevant information were synthesized using a random-effects model. Results: A total of 42 studies reporting on 27,344 patients were included. The pooled prevalence of VTE was 10.0% (95% CI: 7.0–14.0%). Subgroup and metaregression analyses found that thromboprophylaxis strategy, simplified acute physiology score (SAPS II), age, study quality, sample size, malignancy, sex, spinal cord injury and injury severity score (ISS) moderated the prevalence of VTE in intensive care patients. Conclusions: The present meta-analysis revealed a high prevalence of VTE in critically ill patients. The risk factors of VTE included thromboprophylaxis strategy, SAPS II, age, malignancy, sex, spinal cord injury and ISS. Therefore, we need to pay more attention to high-risk populations of VTE in intensive care patients.