Occurrence of an infectious complication may be a predictor of venous thromboembolism after surgery for colorectal cancer

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a rare complication after colorectal cancer surgery, but may have a devastating outcome. The goal of this study was to report the incidence of VTE in our practice and identify predictors of VTE after colorectal resection for cancer. Methods: This was a single-center retrospective cohort analysis. We used the hospital-specific Dutch Colorectal Audit database to identify patients that underwent oncologic colorectal resection between 2015 and 2022 and subsequently developed a VTE. Patients who used therapeutic anticoagulants postoperatively due to pre-existing conditions were excluded. During the study period, VTE prophylaxis was applied according to the local protocol. Patient characteristics and postoperative data were extracted from the patient records. Results: Overall, 1261 patients were included, of which 13 patients developed VTE (1.0%). All cases involved pulmonary embolism. One patient (7.7%) had a simultaneous deep venous thrombosis. There were no deaths due to VTE. The incidence of other complications was significantly higher in patients with VTE (84.6% vs 28.5%; P ≤.001). Multivariable logistic regression analysis indicated that the occurrence of an infectious complication was an independent predictor of VTE (odds ratio, 7.95; 95% CI, 2.20-28.69). Other variables that have previously been connected to the occurrence of VTE have been analyzed, but no other independent predictors were identified. Conclusion: An infectious complication may be an independent predictor of the development of VTE. The necessity of prolonged prophylaxis after oncologic colorectal resections remains unclear.