Stratifying the risks of venous thromboembolism in the lateral skull base surgery using Caprini score assessment

Objective: This study aimed to analyze and stratify the possible risk factors of venous thromboembolism (VTE) (including deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism) after the lateral skull base surgery using Caprini risk assessment in a single center.

Methods Patients who presented for lateral skull base surgery from June 2016 to August 2021 were retrospectively analyzed. The incidence of VTE in 30 days after surgery was recorded. Caprini risk score was calculated to assess the postoperative VTE risk.

Results One hundred and twenty-three patients were included and the VTE incidence at 30 days was 8.9%. The total Caprini risk score in VTE patients was 5.6±1.9 points, which was significantly higher than that in non-VTE patients (4.6±1.4 points, p=0.028). Other clinical characteristics and laboratory tests had no differences between the patients with and without VTE. The binary logistic regression showed that only the total Caprini score was an independent indicator of VTE. Furthermore, results of receiver operating characteristic curve analysis showed that the Caprini score at 6.5 points had a low sensitivity (36.4%) and specificity (91.1%) with a largest area under the curve being 0.659. The VTE rate was 28.6% in patients at a Caprini score ≥7, which was higher than 7.3% in patients at a Caprini score ≤6 (p=0.022).

Conclusion Patients had a high risk to develop VTE after lateral skull base surgery. Caprini score system was a useful tool to assess the risk of postoperative VTE in the lateral skull base surgery, but validation was needed to make it more qualified.

Keywords deep venous thrombosis; pulmonary embolism; lateral skull base surgery; risk factors

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Artikel online veröffentlicht:
24. Mai 2022