SAN DIEGO—Patients with non-O blood type may be at increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) after radical cystectomy for bladder cancer, data presented at the American Urological Association annual meeting suggests.
In a study of 2,008 patients who underwent radical cystectomy over a 25-year period, Jeffrey Wang, MD, and colleagues at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found a 10.4% incidence of VTE, with 70% of patients diagnosed with VTE within one year. The incidence of VTE was 8% for patients with blood type O compared with nearly 12% for those with non-O blood type, Dr. Wang reported. After adjusting for patient age, tumor and nodal stage, body mass index, ECOG performance status, and total lymph nodes removed at surgery, patients with non-O blood type had a twofold increased risk of VTE compared with patients with blood type O, Dr. Wang said.
“These patients may benefit from increased perioperative VTE prophylaxis, and future research is needed to improve risk stratification of these patients,” Dr. Wang told listeners.
Continue Reading
VTE has become an important patient safety and quality indicator, as tracked by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality as well as the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Initiative program, Dr. Wang noted. Radical cystectomy, in particular, has been associated with the highest risk of VTE among urologic procedures, with an incidence ranging from 2% to 10% in the literature, he said.
