The incidence of venous thromboembolism and practice of deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis in hospitalized cirrhotic patients

BACKGROUND Cirrhotic patients are characterized by a decreased synthesis of coagulation and anticoagulation factors. The coagulopathy of cirrhotic patients is considered to be auto-anticoagulation. Our aim was to determine the incidence and predictors of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and examine the practice of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) prophylaxis among hospitalized cirrhotic patients. METHODS A retrospective cohort study was performed in a tertiary teaching hospital. We included all adult patients admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of liver cirrhosis from January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009. We grouped our cohort patients in two groups, cirrhotic patients without VTE and cirrhotic with VTE. RESULTS Over one year, we included 226 cirrhotic patients, and the characteristics of both groups were similar regarding their clinical and laboratory parameters and their outcomes. Six patients (2.7%) developed VTE, and all of the VTEs were DVT. Hepatitis C was the most common (51%) underlying cause of liver cirrhosis, followed by hepatitis B (22%); 76% of the cirrhotic patients received neither pharmacological nor mechanical DVT prophylaxis. CONCLUSION Cirrhotic patients are at risk for developing VTE. The utilization of DVT prophylaxis was suboptimal.