Risk of recurrence after a first episode of symptomatic venous thromboembolism provoked by a transient risk factor: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND

We aimed to determine the risk of recurrence for symptomatic venous thromboembolism (VTE) provoked by different transient risk factors.

DATA SOURCES

MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Cochrane Collaboration Registry of Randomized Trials databases were searched.

STUDY SELECTION

Prospective cohort studies and randomized trials of patients with a first episode of symptomatic VTE provoked by a transient risk factor and treated for at least 3 months were identified.

DATA EXTRACTION

Number of patients and recurrent VTE during the 0- to 12-month and 0- to 24-month intervals after stopping therapy, study design, and provoking risk factor characteristics were extracted.

DATA SYNTHESIS

Annualized recurrence rates were calculated and pooled across studies. At 24 months, the rate of recurrence was 3.3% per patient-year (11 studies, 2268 patients) for all patients with a transient risk factor, 0.7% per patient-year (3 studies, 248 patients) in the subgroup with a surgical factor, and 4.2% per patient-year (3 studies, 509 patients) in the subgroup with a nonsurgical factor. In the same studies, the rate of recurrence after unprovoked VTE was 7.4% per patient-year. The rate ratio for a nonsurgical compared with a surgical factor was 3.0 and for unprovoked thrombosis compared with a nonsurgical factor was 1.8 at 24 months.

CONCLUSIONS

The risk of recurrence is low if VTE is provoked by surgery, intermediate if provoked by a nonsurgical risk factor, and high if unprovoked. These risks affect whether patients with VTE should undergo short-term vs indefinite treatment.