Venous thromboembolism after radical cystectomy and urinary diversion: a single-center experience with 1737 consecutive patients

Background: To investigate the incidence, timing, and risk factors of venous thromboembolic events (VTE) following radical cystectomy and urinary diversion in a large cohort of patients.Patients and Methods: The electronic data base of patients underwent radical cystectomy and urinary diversion in a tertiary referral center between January 2004 and February 2014 was retrospectively reviewed. Patients developed VTE namely deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) within 90 days after surgery were identified and compared to those without VTE. Univariate and multivariate analyses were used to evaluate the predictors of the VTE.Results: Out of 1737 patients, 77 VTE have occurred in 70 (4%) patients. DVT and PE occurred in 34 (2%) and 43 (2.5%) patients, respectively. PE was the leading cause of mortality in 17 patients. The median (range) time for VTE was 11 days (1-92) with 39 (50.6%) events developed after the stoppage of thrombo-prophylaxis. On multivariate analysis, older age ≥60 years (OR = 1.9; p = 0.009), female gender (OR = 1.9; p = 0.02), morbid obesity (BMI ≥35 kg/m²) (OR = 2.4; p = 0.008) and preoperative platelet count (≥300.000/cc) (OR = 1.6; p = 0.045) were significant predictors for developing VTE.Conclusion: The overall incidence of VTE is 4% with more than half of events occurred after the stoppage of thromboprophylaxis highlighting the necessity of adopting an extended protocol. Independent predictors included older age, female gender, morbid obesity and preoperative thrombocytosis. These group of patients require particular attention for the prevention of this complication.