Thromboembolic Prophylaxis in Patients Undergoing Arthroscopic Knee Surgery: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background: Postoperative Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT), a subtype of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE), is a significant preventable cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. VTE is estimated to occur at a rate of one per 1,000 people per year, with DVT accounting for approximately two-thirds of these events. DVT continues to be a common complication of knee arthroscopy. The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence of DVT in patients who have undergone arthroscopic knee surgery. Methods: Patients over the age of 18 years who underwent arthroscopic knee surgery in a teaching hospital were evaluated for VTE clinically and via lower limb Doppler ultrasonography prior to, three days after, and four weeks after surgery. The incidence of DVT was determined and associated with risk factors such as age, sex, duration of immobility, and duration of surgery. Afterward, statistical analysis was performed on the data. Results: The prevalence of DVT was 3.1% in 318 patients undergone knee arthroscopy with a mean age of 34.31 years. The mean duration of surgery was 96.30 minutes across all patients. In 96.9% of patients, there was no evidence of DVT. Additionally, there was no significant association between DVT prevalence and gender, age, surgery type, duration of surgery, or presence of edema in patients (p = 0.551). The patients' mean duration of absolute rest was 61.89 hours. Absolute rest time was significantly longer in patients with positive DVT than in patients with negative DVT (p = 0.001). Conclusion: While knee arthroscopy can be performed as an outpatient procedure, the risk of postoperative DVT is unknown. The incidence of DVT following arthroscopic knee surgery was 3.1% in this study, a necessary precondition for perioperative thromboprophylaxis. Keywords: Deep venous thrombosis, Pulmonary embo lism, Venous Insufficiency, Knee, Arthroscopy Received: 6 months before printing; Accepted: 20 days before printing