Correlation of the severity of anemia in patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty with preoperative deep vein thrombosis: a retrospective cohort study

BACKGROUND: To explore the correlation of the severity of preoperative anemia with deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty (TJA). METHODS: A total of 2461 TJA patients were classified into anemia and non-anemia groups or DVT and non-DVT groups. A logistic regression model was established using propensity score matching (PSM) analysis with preoperative anemia of TJA patients as a dependent variable and DVT-related variables as covariates. The caliper value was set as 0.01, and the anemia and non-anemia groups were matched based on the ratio of 1:1 (835 pairs). Finally, data of all patients were analyzed by binary logistic regression. RESULTS: Preoperative anemia was observed in 872 cases (35.43%) and DVT in 170 cases (6.91%). Binary logistic regression after PSM revealed that the DVT risk of patients with preoperative, moderate and severe anemia increased by 1.82 [P = 0.00, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) (1.32–2.48)], 2.77 [P = 0.00, 95% CI (1.72–4.45)], and 8.26 [P = 0.00, 95% CI (3.22–21.16)] times, respectively. The risks of blood transfusion in the perioperative period in patients with anemia, mild anemia, moderate anemia, and severe anemia increased by 3.52 times [P = 0.00, 95% CI (2.78–4.47)], 2.13 [P = 0.00, 95% CI (1.63–2.79)], 7.22 [P = 0.00, 95% CI (5.30–9.83)], and 61.37 [P = 0.00, 95% CI (14.21–265.04)] times, respectively. CONCLUSION: Preoperative anemia is an independent risk factor for preoperative DVT and blood transfusion in the perioperative period for TJA patients. The more severe the preoperative anemia, the greater the risk of preoperative DVT and perioperative blood transfusion in TJA patients. Therefore, patients with preoperative anemia, especially with moderate and severe anemia, should be screened for DVT formation before undergoing TJA. Trial registration ChiCRT2100054844.