Predictive factors of deep vein thrombosis in patients admitted to intensive care unit

Background: Because deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is one of the most common problems in the intensive care unit, it may lead to complecating the patient's general condition. This study aimed to investigate the predictive factors of DVT in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) of Amin hospital in Isfahan. Methods: In this retrospective study, all the records of patients admitted to the ICU ward of Amin Hospital located in Esfahan, from April 2015 to March 2018, were investigated and from all patients with DVT, 20 records were extracted and 40 cases of patients without DVT were also randomly selected. Information such as age, sex, Wells score, Apache score, nutritional status, clinical parameters, cause of hospitalization, length of stay, ICU induced disease and treatment were extracted from these records and compared between both groups with and without DVT. Results: From 2000 patients admitted to the ICU ward, 20 cases were developed DVT. The age of patients in the DVT group was significantly higher (P=0.008). Factors such as increased Wells score, increased length of stay in the ICU, having ICU induced internal diseases and pneumonia increased the chance of DVT incidence as 18.75, 1.92 and 2.75 and 2.28 times, respectively and the increase of potassium level and use of heparin bandage for treatment reduced the chance of DVT by 2.31 and 2.55 times, respectively (P<0.05). Conclusion: In the general intensive care unit, the incidence of deep vein thrombosis was higher in internal ward patients. Pneumonia was the most common disease associated with deep vein thrombosis and the risk of deep vein thrombosis was higher in the anemic patient. Patients with upper limited normal levels of potassium were less likely to develop deep vein thrombosis. It seems that potassium in the upper limit of normal reference can play a protective role against deep vein thrombosis. Further studies with larger sample sizes are suggested.