Purpose: No consensus exists on the optimal anticoagulation therapy after pancreatoduodenectomy with venous resection (PDVR). The aim of the study was to analyze perioperative outcomes of patients receiving low- vs high-dose anticoagulation therapy and to identify risk factors for postpancreatectomy hemorrhage in patients undergoing PDVR.
Methods: Retrospective study of patients undergoing PDVR at a tertiary referral center between January 2006 and April 2017. Patients were investigated according to the dose of postoperative anticoagulation given (low- or high-dose low-molecular-weight heparin). Uni- and multivariate analysis were performed to assess risk factors for postpancreatectomy hemorrhage.
Results: A total of 141 patients underwent PDVR. Low-dose anticoagulation was given to 45 (31.9%) patients. Operative time (428 min vs 398 min, p = 0.025) and the use of interposition grafts (27% vs 11%, P = 0.033) were significantly higher in the high-dose group. There was no difference in the rate of early portal vein thrombosis (4.4% vs 4.2%, p = 0.939) or postpancreatectomy hemorrhage (13.3% vs 16.7%, p = 0.611) between the low- and high-dose groups. On multivariate analysis, serum bilirubin ≥ 200 μmol/L and clinically relevant postoperative fistula were the only factors associated with postpancreatectomy hemorrhage (OR 10.28, 95% CI 3.51-30.07, P < 0.001, and OR 6.39, 95% CI 1.59-25.74, P = 0.009).
Conclusion: Preoperative hyperbilirubinemia and clinically relevant postoperative fistula are risk factors for postpancreatectomy hemorrhage after PDVR. Rates of postpancreatectomy hemorrhage did not differ between patients receiving high- vs low-dose low-molecular-weight heparin.
Keywords: Anticoagulation policy; Pancreatoduodenectomy with venous resection.