Objectives: The systemic inflammatory cascade and vascular stasis in hospitalized patients with acute pancreatitis (AP) serve as a milieu for development of venous thromboembolism (VTE). Our aim was to estimate the prevalence and risk factors of VTE in AP and to evaluate its impact on clinical outcomes of AP.
Methods: The Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2002-2011) was reviewed to identify all patients hospitalized with AP. Patients with a concomitant diagnosis of VTE were compared with those without. The primary clinical outcome (inpatient mortality) and secondary resources outcomes (length of stay and total hospital charges) were analyzed using univariate and multivariate comparisons.
Results: Among 2,382,426 patients with AP, 22,205 (0.93%) had VTE. Multivariate analysis showed patients with greater comorbidity (odds ratio [OR], 1.47), white race (OR, 1.11), acute kidney injury (OR, 1.08), acute respiratory failure (OR, 1.40), pseudocyst (OR, 1.41), total parenteral nutrition (OR, 1.28), and central venous catheter placement (OR, 3.01) were associated with a diagnosis of VTE. Venous thromboembolism was also independently associated with increased mortality (OR, 1.31) and prolonged duration of hospitalization by 6.5 days (P < 0.001) and contributed to an excess $44,882 (P < 0.001) in hospitalization costs.
Conclusions: Venous thromboembolism is adversely associated with mortality and health care resource utilization in AP.