Incidence of venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing thoracotomy for lung cancer.

Abstract

Limited information exists on the incidence of symptomatic venous thromboembolism (vTE) in patients undergoing chest surgery for lung cancer. Several factors increase the thromboembolic risk in patients undergoing surgery for lung cancer: the intrinsic procoagulant effect of cancer,extensive surgical intervention, dependent limb position in the operating room, and vessel injury consequent to the operation. Furthermore,these patients might be especially vulnerable to pulmonary embolism (PE) because of the loss of lung tissue and the presence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiovascular diseases caused by smoking.t Older studies found a very high incidence of thromboembolic events in these patients.2''3 However, the risk of thromboembolic complications in lung cancer surgery might have changed over the last years. Extensive use of antithrombotic prophylaxis, improvement in surgical techniques and perioperative care, and more prompt mobilization might have reduced the risk of VTE. Therefore, the aim of our study was to provide up-to-date reliable data on the incidence of venous thromboembolic complication in a large cohort of patients undergoing chest surgery for malignant lung disease. Furthermore, the raw mortality rate and the mortality rate related to PE were evaluated.