Pre- and Early Postoperative Deep Venous Thrombosis in Patients Undergoing Oncological Hepatic or Panreatic Resection

Thromboembolic events are a common cause of morbidity and mortality in oncological patients. Up to 20% of cancer patients suffer from venous thromboembolism (VTE) induced by the underlying malignancy itself. Oncologic gastrointestinal surgery is a well-known risk factor for VTE. About 4-6% of patients undergoing elective hepatobiliopanreatic surgery develop a deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism. However, there are no data referring to the incidence of DVT shortly ahead of the surgical event, implementing that a certain percentage of postoperative DVT might have already been acquired before the operation. Furthermore, most studies only evaluate the rate of symptomatic VTE. In this study, all patients undergoing hepatobiliopancreatic surgery will be screened for deep venous thrombosis the day before surgery, on the third postoperative day (primary endpoint) and 90 days after the operation with a 2-point compression sonography of the lower extremities. The development of a symptomatic VTE (DVT or pulmonary embolism) will be recorded as secondary endpoint. Risk factors, perioperative morbidity / mortality and presence of circulating tumor cells will be analyzed with regard to VTE incidence.