Protocol of Thromboprophylaxis of the International Unit of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery of the “La Sagrada Familia” Clinical Center

Venous thromboembolism (VT) is one of the most important conditions of the circulatory system, being multifactorial in origin and causally related to morbid obesity and another’s risk factors. The objective was to evaluate the efficacy of our prophylaxis protocol for DVT and the appearance or not of complications. A prospective cohort study was carried out in the 703 patients undergoing bariatric surgery at the “La Sagrada Familia” Clinical Center. During the period between January 2017 and February 2020, we established our prophylaxis protocol for DVT as follows: pharmacological, enoxaparin sodium 40 mg subcutaneously for 10 days (5 doses inter-daily), with mechanical prophylaxis using compression stockings and early ambulation at 6 h after surgery. This protocol was applied to all patients undergoing bariatric surgery; the unique exclusion criteria were the presence of DVT or history of PE. Highest percentage of our population is female 66.14%, mean age of 37 ± 9 years, and a mean body mass index of 39.45. The average surgical time of these procedures was 45 ± 5 min for LGS and 93.3 ± 6.6 min for RYGB/OAGB. The surgical procedures performed in the 703 patients were RYGB (52.06%), LGS (27.31%), and thirdly the OAGB with (17.21%) to name the three most performed procedures. Pharmacological prophylaxis was used in 302 patients (42.95%). With the utility of this prophylaxis protocol, only 4 complications were presented, which is equivalent to 0.56%. The protocol used was shown to be safe with a low complication rate.