The effect of catheter-directed thrombolytic use on readmission rates and in-hospital outcomes among cancer patients with venous thromboembolism in the United States.

BACKGROUND

Cancer inducing a hypercoagulable state, venous thromboembolism (VTE) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. We assessed the impacts of cancer on the likelihood for readmission after a VTE-targeted procedure.

METHODS

We created a new cohort using discharge-level data from all hospitalizations from State Inpatient Databases of geographically dispersed participating states (18-27 states).

RESULTS

In those presenting with VTE during index-admission (619 241), 2.4% patients underwent catheter directed thrombolytic therapy (CDL) on index admission and among those 20.3% had cancer. Moreover, the 30-day readmission rate amongst CDL recipients (10 776 overall) was 14.3% in those with cancer compared to 8.8% in those with no cancer history (P < .0001). Additionally, in-hospital mortality (5.7% vs 1.1%; P = 0.009) and cost-of-care ($11 014 ± 914 vs $10 520 ± 534; P = .04) was significantly higher in cancer compared to noncancer.

CONCLUSION

The use of CDL does not appear to reduce the risk of returning for a VTE-related admission in cancer.