Incidence of acute Deep Vein Thrombosis in pediatric and adolescent orthopedic trauma hospitalized patients and effect of rivaroxaban treatment.

OBJECTIVE

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) provoked by orthopedic trauma is increasing in pediatric hospitalized patients. The purpose of our study is to identify the prevalence of acute DVT in pediatric and adolescent orthopedic trauma hospitalized patients and focus on evaluating the anticoagulation strategies and the clinical outcomes after a confirmed acute DVT.

METHODS

Patients (age ≤18 years) with a confirmed acute DVT admitted for orthopedic trauma between September 2017 and December 2023 were included. Patients were classified into the non-anticoagulation (NA), the in-hospital anticoagulation (IHA), and the in-and-out-of-hospital anticoagulation (IOHA) groups based on their anticoagulation regimen. Efficacy outcomes were the venous thromboembolism (VTE) recurrence within 3 months and change in thrombus burden by repeat imaging at 2 weeks after discharge compared with baseline. Safety outcomes were major bleeding (MB) and clinically relevant non-major bleeding (CRNMB) within 3 months.

RESULTS

Of the 11,206 pediatric and adolescent orthopedic trauma inpatients, 94(median age,16 [15, 18] years) were diagnosed with acute DVT, with an incidence of 0.84 %, of which 8(8.5 %) received NA, 41(43.6 %) received IHA, and 45(47.9 %) received IOHA. After the diagnosis of DVT, of patients who received anticoagulation, 97.9 % were treated with rivaroxaban as an oral anticoagulant, and 71.7 % received an LMWH course of ≥5 days before starting rivaroxaban therapy. With a median anticoagulation course of 22(8, 37.3) days, the duration in the IOHA was significantly longer than the IHA (37 days vs. 8 days, p = 0.000). No patients experienced recurrent VTE and MB at 3 months, and 1 received IOHA had a CRNMB event (0 % vs. 0 % vs. 2.2 %, p = 1.000). Thrombus resolution was significantly higher in patients who received anticoagulation therapy (IOHA 91.1 % vs. IHA 80.5 % vs. NA 37.5 %, P = 0.002), and thrombus-no relevant change was significantly lower in patients who received the IOHA strategy compared with the other groups (4.4 % vs. 19.5 % vs. 62.5 %, P = 0.000).

CONCLUSIONS

A rivaroxaban-predominant IOHA strategy significantly reduced the thrombotic burden without increasing the risk of bleeding for the treatment of DVT in adolescents with orthopedic trauma. Duration of anticoagulation therapy <6 weeks appears appropriate for adolescent orthopedic trauma-related DVT.