PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Uehara, Masashi
AU  - Ikegami, Shota
AU  - Oba, Hiroki
AU  - Miyaoka, Yoshinari
AU  - Hatakenaka, Terue
AU  - Kurogochi, Daisuke
AU  - Sasao, Shinji
AU  - Mimura, Tetsuhiko
AU  - Takahashi, Jun
TI  - Frequency and Associated Factors of Venous Thromboembolism in Cervical Spine Surgery
AID  - 10.14444/8624
DP  - 2024 Aug 05
TA  - International Journal of Spine Surgery
PG  - 8624
4099  - https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/early/2024/08/02/8624.short
4100  - https://www.ijssurgery.com/content/early/2024/08/02/8624.full
AB  - Background Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a well-known complication after spine surgery. As many cases of cervical spine disease result in severe gait disturbance due to myelopathy, it may harbor a higher risk of VTE than other spinal disorders. However, few studies have focused primarily on cervical spine surgery to date. This investigation sought to determine the prevalence of VTE after cervical spine surgery and identify patient-based risk factors.Methods The medical data of 341 consecutive patients (240 men and 101 women; mean age, 68.1 years) who underwent cervical spine surgery were retrospectively examined. Logistic regression models were employed to examine the prevalence, characteristics, and risk factors of postoperative VTE.Results In this study, 2.6% of cervical spine surgery patients experienced postoperative VTE. In comparisons of VTE and non-VTE groups, significant differences were found for age (79.6 years vs 67.7 years, P < 0.01), 1-week postoperative D-dimer level (10.6 μg/mL vs 2.7 μg/mL, P < 0.01), and cardiovascular disease (44.4% vs 11.1%, P = 0.011). Multivariate analysis identified elevated postoperative D-dimer level and cardiovascular disease as significantly associated with postsurgical VTE with respective odds ratios of 1.54 and 9.52.Conclusion Postoperative VTE in cervical spine surgery was seen in 2.6% of cases. Patients with elevated postoperative D-dimer level and cardiovascular disease may be at increased risk of VTE and may require additional observation.Clinical Relevance Spine surgeons should take into account that patients with elevated postoperative D-dimer levels and cardiovascular disease may be at increased risk for VTE.Level of Evidence 4.