Venous thromboembolism risk for the contemporary bariatric surgeon

Background Postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality after bariatric surgery. Although several studies have examined VTE, few have examined risk factors separately for DVT and PE after contemporary bariatric surgery, including laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (LSG). Our objective was to define risk factors for DVT and PE independently for both LSG and laparoscopic Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (LRYGB) patients using the largest validated bariatric surgery database. Methods The metabolic and bariatric surgery accreditation and quality improvement program (MBSAQIP) database was queried to identify patients who underwent LSG or LRYGB between January 2015 and December 2017. Perioperative data were compared using bivariate analysis. Risk of DVT and PE after LSG or LRYGB was determined using multivariable logistic regression analysis. Results During the study period, 369,032 bariatric cases (72% LSG, 28% LRYGB) were performed. The incidence of DVT was similar between LSG and LRYGB (0.2% vs. 0.2%, p = 0.96), while the incidence of PE was decreased for LSG compared to LRYGB (0.1% vs. 0.2%, p