Objective: To explore the correlation between the fracture line inferior plane and perioperative deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in patients with tibial fractures.
Methods: Data was collected from the medical records of 536 consecutive patients with tibial fractures at Xi'an Honghui Hospital. The patients were divided into distal, shaft, and proximal segment groups according to the fracture line inferior plane on radiographs. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to identify the role of the inferior plane of the fracture line in perioperative DVT.
Results: A total of 431 patients were included in the study and 226 patients had perioperative DVT in the lower extremities, including 11 proximal and 215 distal DVTs. Univariate regression analysis showed a significant correlation between the proximal segment and perioperative DVT; however, no correlation was found in the shaft segment group. Additionally, age, coronary heart disease, associated injuries, and time to operation ≥6 days were risk factors for perioperative DVT. However, fixation with intramedullary nails may be a protective factor for perioperative DVT compared with plates. After adjusting for potential confounding factors, the proximal segment group had an increased incidence of perioperative DVT compared to the distal segment group.
Conclusions: The proximal segment may be correlated with an increased incidence of perioperative DVT by 7.30-fold in patients with tibial fractures compared to that in the distal segment. In clinical practice, surgeons should be vigilant for DVT formation in these patients.
Keywords: deep venous thrombosis; fracture line; logistic regression; plane; segment; tibial fractures.