Venous thromboembolism in common laparoscopic abdominal surgical operations.

BACKGROUND: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is potentially a serious postoperative complication. We examined the incidence and outcome of VTE among different laparoscopic abdominal surgical operations for benign diseases.

METHODS: The National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was utilized to evaluate all patients with benign disease who underwent laparoscopic abdominal operations including colorectal surgery, bariatric surgery, cholecystectomy, esophageal surgery, abdominal wall hernia repair, and appendectomy from 2005 to 2014. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was performed.

RESULTS: 750,159 patients were studied and the overall incidence of VTE was 0.32% within 30 days of operation. Colorectal surgery had the highest incidence of VTE (734/65512, 1.12%) with significantly longest length of stay and operative time. Patients who developed VTE had higher mortality and worse outcomes compared to non-VTE patients.

CONCLUSIONS: Laparoscopic colorectal operations for benign disease is at higher risk for development of VTE compared to other laparoscopic abdominal operations. Further studies should be performed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms for our finding.