title: Incidence of venous thromboembolism in oral and maxillofacial surgery: a retrospective analysis.
abstract: This study retrospectively investigates the incidence and risk factors for venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients undergoing maxillofacial surgery. Data were obtained from patients treated between January 2005 and June 2006. Patients' records were reviewed for complaints and information relating to deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). All patients completed a questionnaire on complaints relating to DVT and PE. The patients were classified according to risk and the incidence of reported DVT and PE was calculated. The study population comprised 411 patients with a mean age of 32 (+/- 17) years. The median postoperative follow-up period was 53 (23-639) days. None of the patients received thromboembolism prophylaxis. The incidence of VTE in the study group was 0.5%. Logistic regression analysis demonstrated a relationship between body mass index and hospital stay with thromboembolism (p<0.05). Patients undergoing pre-implant surgery with bone graft proved to be at risk (p=0.07). The incidence of VTE in oral and maxillofacial surgery seems to be low, but thromboembolism prophylaxis may be justified in patients with clear potential risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery/Oral Pathology, VU University Medical Center/Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA), The Netherlands. t.forouzanfar@vumc.nl <t.forouzanfar@vumc.nl>
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Forouzanfar
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Heymans
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: van Schuilenburg
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zweegman
authors.forename: E A J M
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Schulten
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D016025:Bone Transplantation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D019647:Oral Surgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013516:Oral Surgical Procedures, Preprosthetic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D056948:Orthognathic Surgical Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D019857:Osteogenesis, Distraction / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000453:epidemiology; D019651:Plastic Surgery Procedures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D013997:Time Factors; D054556:Venous Thromboembolism / Q000453:epidemiology*; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult