Risk for deep venous thrombosis in pediatric cancer patients undergoing surgery

Purpose: Cancer is a well-established risk factor for deep venous thrombosis (DVT). We sought to assess the incidence of DVT in pediatric cancer patients undergoing select surgical procedures at our institution and to identify additional factors associated with DVT development. Methods: We performed a retrospective review of cancer patients who underwent select surgical procedures and developed a DVT within 30 days of their operation from 20 00 to 2018 at our institution. Catheter-associated DVTs were excluded from this analysis. Major oncologic operations were selected. Results: From 20 00 to 2018, 3031 major oncologic operations were performed following which 14 symptomatic DVTs occurred, for an overall incidence of 0.46%. Procedures associated with post-operative DVT included: mass biopsy (7), pulmonary wedge resection (2), inguinal lymph node excision (1), colectomy (1), nephrectomy (1), lower extremity limb-sparing revision (1), and femur resection (1). Conclusions: Our data suggest that surgery does not put children with cancer at significant risk for DVT. Given the low incidence of perioperative DVT, routine pharmacologic prophylaxis for children with cancer undergoing surgery does not seem warranted. Level of Evidence: II (c) 2021 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study aimed to assess the incidence of DVT in pediatric cancer patients undergoing select surgical procedures, with an overall incidence of post-operative DVT at 0.46%. Findings suggest that surgery does not significantly increase the risk of DVT in children with cancer, indicating routine pharmacologic prophylaxis may not be warranted.