Risk factors and incidence of deep vein thrombosis in lower extremities among critically ill patients.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate how many critically ill patients developed deep vein thrombosis (DVT) during their admission to intensive care units (ICU) and to compare the characteristics of patients with and without deep vein thrombosis.


BACKGROUND
Critically ill patients are a high-risk group for deep vein thrombosis because they typically have multiple risk factors, such as prolonged immobility, mechanical ventilation and old age.


METHODS
A prospective observational study was employed.


METHODS
The subjects were 90 patients who were older than 18 years of age, who were admitted to an intensive care unit for more than five days and were not provided any prophylactic measures. Data were collected at a university hospital for five months. A duplex scan was performed on day 2.4 on average and repeated between days 5-7 to diagnose deep vein thrombosis. The iliac, femoral, popliteal and tibial veins were examined by compression and colour Doppler methods of the duplex scan by one technician.


RESULTS
Age, gender and body mass index were significant factors for deep vein thrombosis development (p < 0.05). Ten patients (11.1%) developed deep vein thrombosis during their stay in the intensive care units.


CONCLUSIONS
The incidence was lower than in Western studies in which patients were not provided prophylaxis, but may increase with an extended observation period as in previous studies.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study could allow ICU nurses to recognise the DVT incidence in critically ill patients. This result could lead to more active prevention and monitoring of DVT by ICU nurses, especially for high-risk patients, such as older or obese patients.
College of Medicine, Inha University, Incheon, Korea.
Kee Chun
KC
Hong
HwaSoon
H
Kim
Jang Yong
JY
Kim
Kyung Sun
KS
Kwak
Ok Min
OM
Cho
Hui Yeol
HY
Cha
Sun Hye
SH
Lim
Yu Jin
YJ
Song
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016638:Critical Illness; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007866:Leg / Q000098:blood supply*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000453:epidemiology*