Thromboprophylaxis Is Associated With Reduced Post-hospitalization Venous Thromboembolic Events in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

• Main Authors: Ananthakrishnan, Ashwin N. (Author), Cagan, Andrew (Author), Gainer, Vivian S. (Author), Cheng, Su-Chun (Author), Cai, Tianxi (Author), Scoville, Elizabeth (Author), Konijeti, Gauree G. (Author), Szolovits, Peter (Contributor), Shaw, Stanley Y. (Author), Churchill, Susanne (Author), Karlson, Elizabeth W. (Author), Murphy, Shawn N. (Author), Kohane, Isaac (Author), Liao, Katherine P. (Author)
• Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (Contributor)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier, 2016-02-02T01:08:43Z.
• Subjects: Article
• Online Access: Get fulltext

 Background & Aims Patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) have increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE); those who require hospitalization have particularly high risk. Few hospitalized patients with IBD receive thromboprophylaxis. We analyzed the frequency of VTE after IBD-related hospitalization, risk factors for post-hospitalization VTE, and the efficacy of prophylaxis in preventing post-hospitalization VTE. Methods In a retrospective study, we analyzed data from a multi-institutional cohort of patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and at least 1 IBD-related hospitalization. Our primary outcome was a VTE event. All patients contributed person-time from the date of the index hospitalization to development of VTE, subsequent hospitalization, or end of follow-up. Our main predictor variable was pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis. Cox proportional hazard models adjusting for potential confounders were used to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results From a cohort of 2788 patients with at least 1 IBD-related hospitalization, 62 patients developed VTE after discharge (2%). Incidences of VTE at 30, 60, 90, and 180 days after the index hospitalization were 3.7/1000, 4.1/1000, 5.4/1000, and 9.4/1000 person-days, respectively. Pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis during the index hospital stay was associated with a significantly lower risk of post-hospitalization VTE (HR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.22-0.97). Increased numbers of comorbidities (HR, 1.30; 95% CI, 1.16-1.47) and need for corticosteroids before hospitalization (HR, 1.71; 95% CI, 1.02-2.87) were also independently associated with risk of VTE. Length of hospitalization or surgery during index hospitalization was not associated with post-hospitalization VTE. Conclusions Pharmacologic thromboprophylaxis during IBD-related hospitalization is associated with reduced risk of post-hospitalization VTE.