Faculty Collaboration Database

Is chronic spinal cord injury associated with increased risk of venous thromboembolism? J Am Paraplegia Soc 1993 Jul;16(3):153-6

Date

07/01/1993

Pubmed ID

8366336

DOI

10.1080/01952307.1993.11735893

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-0027637967 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   55 Citations

Abstract

To determine the incidence of symptomatic thromboembolism in patients with chronic spinal cord injury, a retrospective review of patients followed in a Veteran's Affairs Spinal Cord Injury Unit was conducted. Followed for a mean of 13.7 years after injury, 287 patients were reviewed. Forty events were identified, an incidence of 10 percent. Thirty-three (83 percent) occurred in the first 6 months following injury. The remainder occurred at 1, 1.5, 7, 9, 10, 12, and 14 years after injury, an incidence of 0.17 percent per year. The incidence of clinically significant thromboembolism in spinal cord injury decreases dramatically after the first 6 months to a level similar to that in the general population (0.18 percent). Possible explanations for this include: 1) immobilization by itself may not be a risk factor for thromboembolism; 2) physiologic adaptations in the chronic state may protect against thromboembolism; and, 3) thromboembolism occurs, but remains subclinical in most patients.

Author List

Lamb GC, Tomski MA, Kaufman J, Maiman DJ

Authors

Geoffrey Lamb MD Emeritus Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of Wisconsin
Dennis J. Maiman PhD, MD Emeritus Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Chronic Disease
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Spinal Cord Injuries
Thrombophlebitis