Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality after bariatric surgery, most often occurring after discharge within 30 days after surgery.
Objectives: To determine the risk factors associated with VTE after either sleeve gastrectomy (SG) or Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) and to develop a Bariatric Hypercoagulation Score (BHS) to predict 30-day adverse postoperative outcomes.
Setting: University hospital.
Methods: Using 2015-2018 data from the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Quality Improvement Program, a BHS was created by performing a logistic regression of "venous thromboembolism." The variables with the highest odds ratio (OR) were selected for the SG and RYGB groups. Then, the 30-day outcomes of low-risk (0-1), average-risk (2-3), and high-risk (≥4) BHS were compared.
Results: Similar risk factors for VTE were found in both the SG and RYGB groups; the highest OR was shown by history of deep vein thrombosis (SG: 3.54, RYGB: 3.05). Other related factors in both groups were history of pulmonary embolism, prolonged length of stay, Black race, and male sex. Conversely, unique risk factors such as dialysis (OR 1.81) was found in the SG group; meanwhile, prolonged operative time (OR 1.50) and age >60 years (OR 1.28) were for the RYGB group. When comparing the 30-day outcomes, BHS ≥4 had a significantly higher rate of complications (P < .001).
Conclusions: SG and RYGB have some risk factors in common for VTE; however, dialysis was associated only with SG, and prolonged operative time and age >60 years were associated only with RYGB. BHS ≥4 showed higher 30-day adverse outcomes. The VTE-correlated variables require special consideration when assessing patients undergoing SG and RYGB.
Keywords: Bariatric Hypercoagulation Score; Bariatric surgery; Hypercoagulation; Venous thromboembolism.
Copyright © 2023 American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.