Elevated risk of venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing therapeutic hypothermia after cardiac arrest.

INTRODUCTION: Targeted Temperature Management (TTM) reduces mortality and improves neurological outcomes after cardiac arrest. Cardiac arrest is considered a pro-thrombotic state. Endovascular cooling catheters may increase the risk of thrombosis. Targeted Temperature Management, however, increases fibrinolysis. The net outcome of these opposing effects remains largely unexplored. Moreover, the exact rate of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is uncertain in these patients. We sought to determine the incidence and potential predictors of VTE in patients undergoing TTM.

METHODS: Single center retrospective analysis. Participants were age ≥18 years old, admitted with out-of-hospital or in-hospital cardiac arrest, underwent TTM between January 1, 2007 and April 30, 2019 with endovascular cooling catheter. A total of 562 patients who underwent TTM (Study group) were compared to 562 patients treated for ARDS (control group). This control group was based on presumed similarities in factors affecting VTE: intensive care setting, immobility, length of stay and likely presence of central venous catheters.

RESULTS: Patients who underwent TTM had a significantly higher rate of VTE (6.6% vs 2.3%, p = 0.006) and deep vein thrombosis (DVT) (4.6% vs 1.3%, p = 0.011) when compared to control group. In multivariate analysis age, gender, race and hospital length of stay were not associated with development of VTE in the study group.

CONCLUSION: Patients undergoing TTM after cardiac arrest have statistically higher incidence of VTE and DVT compared to patients with ARDS. This risk is independent of age, gender, race or length of stay.