Effect of prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism after liver resection in cirrhotic patients

Abstract

Introduction: The imbalance in the coagulative function can increase the risk of bleeding in cirrhotic patients after hepatic surgery; as no data or specific guidelines are available, prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism could be hazardous. Objective: To assess the effect of venous thrombosis prophylaxis after hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in cirrhotic patients. Patients and Methods: 229 consecutive cirrhotic patients with HCC who underwent hepatic resection over a 10-year period were retrospectively evaluated to assess whether there was any difference in the incidence of thrombotic or hemorrhagic complications between those who received prophylaxis with low-molecular weight heparin and those who did not. Differences and possible effect of the following parameters were investigated: age, sex, Child-Pugh and MELD score, platelet count, presence of esophageal varices, type of hepatic resection, duration of surgery, intraoperative transfusion of blood and fresh-frozen plasma (FFP),