title: Pulmonary embolism after major abdominal surgery in gynecologic oncology.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To estimate the incidence and prognostic significance of postoperative pulmonary embolism after gynecologic oncology surgery.
  
  
  METHODS
  All patients who underwent gynecologic oncology surgery from June 2001 to June 2003 and received venous thromboembolism prophylaxis with only intermittent pneumatic compression and early ambulation were identified from our database. Patients were grouped by procedure (major/minor abdominal or nonabdominal surgery), diagnosis (malignant/nonmalignant), and cancer subtype. Groups were compared by chi2 analysis and logistic regression. Survival was studied with the Kaplan-Meier method and Mantel-Byar test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 1,373 surgical patients were identified over the 2-year period, including 839 major abdominal surgery cases and 534 minor abdominal surgery or nonabdominal surgery cases. Of the 839 patients, 507 had a diagnosis of cancer, and 332 were benign. The incidence of pulmonary embolism among cancer patients undergoing major abdominal surgery was 4.1% (21/507) compared with 0.3% (1/332) among patients undergoing major abdominal surgery with benign findings (P < .001, odds ratio [OR] 13.8, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.9-102.1). The incidence of pulmonary embolism among patients undergoing minor/nonabdominal surgery was 0.4% (2/536). Cancer diagnosis and age more than 60 years were identified as risk factors for pulmonary embolism (P = .009, OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.13-0.74). One-year survival for patients with and those without pulmonary embolism were 48.0% +/- 12% and 77.0% +/- 2%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with cancer undergoing major abdominal surgery and using pneumatic compression for thromboembolic prophylaxis had a 14-fold greater odds of developing a pulmonary embolism compared with patients with benign disease. Randomized studies are needed to determine whether additional prophylactic measures may benefit this high-risk group of patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  II-3.
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, The Cancer Center at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Allentown, Pennsylvania 18104, USA. Medmartino@aol.com
authors.forename: Martin A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Martino
authors.forename: Elana
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Borges
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Williamson
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Siegfried
authors.forename: Alan B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Cantor
authors.forename: Johnathan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lancaster
authors.forename: William S
authors.initials: WS
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Mitchel S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Hoffman
mesh_terms: D034841:Abdominal Cavity / Q000601:surgery*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005833:Genital Neoplasms, Female / Q000601:surgery*; D013509:Gynecologic Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008875:Middle Aged; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000401:mortality; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors