Abstract
Objectives
The development of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a common complication following spinal cord injury (SCI) and brain injury (BI), leading to significant morbidity and mortality. The purpose of this study was to explore the incidence of VTE in patients with the dual diagnosis (DD) of SCI and concomitant BI using ultrasonography.
Design
Retrospective study.
Setting
Acute rehabilitation hospital.
Participants
Thirty-one individuals admitted for DD rehabilitation who were routinely screened for VTE with ultrasound on admission.
Interventions
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures
Retrospective chart review was performed to identify whether patients were found to have DVT or PE at the following three time points: in acute care prior to admission to rehabilitation, at time of admission diagnosed via screening examination, and after admission to rehabilitation during the inpatient stay via post screening examinations. Retrospective chart review was also performed to identify incidence of bleeding.
Results
67.7% of individuals were found to have DVTs at any timepoint. Of these DVTs, 22.6% were identified in acute care, 48.4% on admission to rehabilitation, and 16.1% during the course of rehabilitation stay. Of those who were placed on therapeutic anticoagulation due to admission diagnosis of VTE, 25% developed recurrent DVT and 12.5% had bleeding complications. No cases of PE were observed in this study population.
Conclusions
This study found a high incidence of DVT for the DD population at all three timepoints with a high proportion identified via screening ultrasonography on admission to rehabilitation. Further research is needed to investigate the incidence of VTE and utility of screening ultrasonography in this population.
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Data availability
Data are available upon request from the corresponding author.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to acknowledge the Craig Hospital Foundation and the patients, families, and staff who participated in this study.
Funding
This work was supported by the Craig Hospital Foundation under grant number 2643.
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CD was responsible for study design, extracting the data, interpreting study results, and writing the report. AP was responsible for study design, interpreting study results, and writing the report. MS was responsible for analyzing data, interpreting results, and writing the report. SC was responsible for extracting the data and writing the report. MM was responsible for interpreting study results and writing the report. DC was responsible for interpreting study results and writing the report. RA was responsible for study design and writing the report. JF was responsible for study design and writing the report. JB was responsible for study design, extracting the data, interpreting study results, and writing the report.
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Ethics approval and consent to participate
This study was in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. This study was approved by the hospital institutional review board. Informed consent was not obtained as this was a retrospective review.
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Draganich, C., Park, A., Sevigny, M. et al. Venous thromboembolism: exploring incidence and utility of screening in individuals with dual diagnosis. Spinal Cord Ser Cases 10, 58 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41394-024-00670-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41394-024-00670-1
