• Karen N Zaghiyan, Harry C Sax, Emily Miraflor, David Cossman, Willis Wagner, James Mirocha, Bruce Gewertz, Phillip Fleshner, and Cedars-Sinai DVT Study Group.
• *Divisions of Colorectal Surgery, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA †Department of Surgery, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA ‡Division of Vascular Surgery, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA §Biostatistics and Bioinformatics Research Center, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA.
• Ann. Surg. 2016 Oct 1; 264 (4): 632-9.

ObjectiveTo identify the optimal timing of perioperative chemical thromboprophylaxis (CTP) and incidence of occult preoperative deep vein thrombosis (OP-DVT) in patients undergoing major colorectal surgery.BackgroundThere is limited Level 1 data regarding the optimal timing of CTP in major colorectal surgery and the incidence of OP-DVT remains unclear. Both issues influence the occurrence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and may impact Medicare reimbursement because of penalties for hospital-acquired conditions.MethodsPatients undergoing major colorectal surgery underwent preoperative lower extremity venous duplex (LEVD) immediately before surgery. Those without OP-DVT were randomized to preoperative or postoperative CTP with 5000 units of subcutaneous heparin. Patients underwent repeat LEVD in the recovery room and on postoperative day 2. Outcome measures included early (48-hrs) and overall (30-days) postoperative VTE, bleeding complications, and OP-DVT.ResultsEighteen patients (4.2%) had OP-DVT and were excluded. The randomized group included 376 patients (51.6% female) with mean age of 52.7 ± 17.6 years. No pulmonary embolism occurred. There was no significant difference in preoperative versus postoperative CTP with respect to early postoperative DVT [3/184 (1.6%) vs 5/192 (2.6%); P = 0.72], DVT at 30 days (1.6% vs 3.6%; P = 0.34) or bleeding complications requiring reoperation (0.5% vs 1.6%; P = 0.62).ConclusionsThe risk of OP-DVT is higher than that of perioperative DVT after colorectal surgery and preoperative screening LEVD should be considered to identify and treat patients at risk for pulmonary embolism. Preoperative and postoperative CTP are equally safe in protecting against VTE. CMS should account for these factors when assigning financial disincentives for perioperative VTE.Trial RegistrationClinicaltrials.gov #NCT01976988.

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