Predictors of deep venous thrombosis in patients admitted to rehabilitation clinics after major orthopaedic surgery

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a frequent complication of major orthopaedic surgery; prolonged prophylaxis with anticoagulants is standard of care. However, late manifestation of VTE is common and little is known about the predictors of late deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and the distribution of proximal and distal DVT and isolated calf muscle vein thrombosis (MVT). Patients and methods: 482 patients admitted to a rehabilitation clinic (RC) after total hip or knee replacement (THR; TKR) or hip fracture surgery (HFS) underwent complete compression ultrasound (CCUS) screening for VTE within 72 hours after admission into RC. Predictors of VTE were evaluated. Results: DVT was prevalent in 74 events (14.7 %), consisting of 13 (2.7 %) proximal DVT, 17 (3.5 %) distal DVT and 41 (8.5 %) MVT, respectively. Multivariate analyses established history of VTE (OR for proximal DVT 7.0; 95 %-CI 1.9 - 25.9; OR for any DVT 3.9; 95 %-CI 1.7 - 8.9), female gender (OR 3.3; 95 %-CI 1.0 - 10.6), coronary artery disease...