Thromboembolism in the Sub-Acute Phase of Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Thromboembolism in the Sub-Acute Phase of Spinal Cord Injury: A Systematic Review of the Literature.
Asian Spine J. 2016 Oct;10(5):972-981
Authors: Alabed S, Belci M, Van Middendorp JJ, Al Halabi A, Meagher TM
Abstract
To review the evidence of thromboembolism incidence and prophylaxis in the sub-acute phase of spinal cord injury (SCI) 3-6 months post injury. All observational and experimental studies with any length of follow-up and no limitations on language or publication status published up to March 2015 were included. Two review authors independently selected trials for inclusion and extracted data. Outcomes studied were incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in the sub-acute phase of SCI. The secondary outcome was type of thromboprophylaxis. Our search identified 4305 references and seven articles that met the inclusion criteria. Five papers reported PE events and three papers reported DVT events in the sub-acute phase of SCI. Studies were heterogeneous in populations, design and outcome reporting, therefore a meta-analysis was not performed. The included studies report a PE incidence of 0.5%-6.0% and DVT incidence of 2.0%-8.0% in the sub-acute phase of SCI. Thromboprophylaxis was poorly reported. Spinal patients continue to have a significant risk of PE and DVT after the acute period of their injury. Clinicians are advised to have a low threshold for suspecting venous thromboembolism in the sub-acu...

Source: Asian Spine Journal - October 31, 2016 Category: Orthopaedics Tags: Asian Spine J Source Type: research