Independent Risk Factors Associated With Venous Thromboembolism After Knee Arthroscopy: A Retrospective Study of 222 Patients.

BACKGROUND

A serious complication after knee arthroscopy is venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes both deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). However, asymptomatic VTE is frequently undetected.

PURPOSE

To (1) report the incidence of VTE after knee arthroscopy using ultrasound examination and computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) and (2) discover the independent risk factors of VTE after knee arthroscopy and determine the corresponding cutoff values of these indicators.

STUDY DESIGN

Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3.

METHODS

Included were 222 patients (115 male) who underwent arthroscopic knee procedures between October 2022 and January 2023. Baseline characteristics, blood test results, and VTE assessments were collected. During the 2-week follow-up, routine lower extremity vascular ultrasound was applied for DVT measurement, with CTPA evaluation for suspected PE. Patients were allocated into VTE and no-VTE groups, and descriptive statistics were used to analyze baseline data. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the correlation between binary variables and the presence of postoperative VTE. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was further performed to determine the independent risk factors of VTE.

RESULTS

Of the 222 patients, 37 (16.7%) had DVT and 1 (0.5%) had both DVT and PE. Compared to the no-VTE group, the VTE group was significantly older, with more female patients; higher body mass index (BMI) and postoperative D-dimer level; and higher rates of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, varicose veins of the lower extremity, and abnormal postoperative fibrin degradation product level (≤ .043 for all). Notably, operative time >20 minutes was not significantly associated with postoperative VTE ( = .513). The independent risk factors for VTE included age >32 years (odds ratio [OR], 20.71 [95% CI, 4.40-97.47]; < .001), BMI >23 kg/m (OR, 3.52 [95% CI, 1.11-11.14]; = .032), hyperlipidemia (OR, 6.81 [95% CI, 1.86-24.88]; = .004), and postoperative D-dimer level >0.63 mg/L (OR, 34.01 [95% CI, 7.36-157.07]; < .001).

CONCLUSION

The incidence of VTE after knee arthroscopy was 16.7% at the 2-week follow-up. Age >32 years, BMI >23 kg/m, hyperlipidemia, and postoperative D-dimer >0.63 mg/L were independent risk factors of postoperative VTE within 2 weeks after knee arthroscopy. For patients with knee arthroscopy, the cutoff value of postoperative D-dimer for VTE was found to be 0.63 mg/L for timely intervention.