Deep vein thrombosis after arthroplasty: Nanjing deep vein thrombosis study

Background: Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) remains a life-threatening complication of arthroplasty. It remains controversial for anticoagulation strategies after total hip arthroplasty (THA). Methods: A retrospective study was conducted to determine whether clinical risk factors and/or genetic variants might predict the development of DVT and find efficient anticoagulation strategies. Nanjing DVT study (NJDVTS), a retrospective and largest study conducted in a single center included 908 subjects who received knee or hip arthroplasty. Results: A total of 328 subjects (215 women and 113 men) who underwent uncemented THA were studied. Patients were followed up 3 months later after surgery. DVT was tested by contrast venography (CV). We checked genetic variants for DVT by a case-control study. Logistic regression analysis was performed to predict of the ability of each covariate and genetic factor. We also used logistic regression analysis with variable selection for obtaining the prediction model of DVT. Conclusions: DVT after THA was affected by personal (age) and clinical factors (mechanical compression, duration of surgery). THA with short duration of surgery did not require prophylactic anticoagulation. Extended anticoagulation was unnecessary for non-DVT patients after discharge from hospital.