Standardized Risk Assessment and Risk-Stratified Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis for Patients Undergoing Breast Operation

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis has become routine for patients undergoing most operations, but it remains controversial for breast operations due to a perceived low risk of VTE. There is limited evidence to support routine or extended VTE prophylaxis in breast surgery. We investigated the benefits and risks of the Caprini risk stratification tool and corresponding prevention program, including extended prophylaxis for high-risk groups, in patients undergoing operations for benign and malignant breast lesions.

Study design: Using Boston Medical Center data, we reviewed records of patients who underwent lumpectomy or total mastectomy (with or without axillary surgery and/or reconstruction), between 2011 and 2018, to collect information about operation, Caprini score, administration of prophylaxis, and postoperative VTE or bleeding events. Descriptive statistics were performed.

Results: Seven hundred fifty patients underwent 881 operations; 48.9% were at low or moderate risk of VTE, 43.8% were at high risk, and 7.3% were at highest risk. There were no VTE events in the low- and moderate-risk groups, 5 (1.3%) in the high-risk, and 1 (1.6%) in the highest-risk group. One patient was diagnosed with VTE during hospitalization. None of the 5 patients who developed VTE after discharge was prescribed the recommended extended chemoprophylaxis. There were 19 bleeding events that did not require reoperation; 3 patients returned to the operating room. There was no correlation of bleeding with receipt of extended chemoprophylaxis.

Conclusions: The Caprini protocol can identify high-risk breast surgery patients who may benefit from extended VTE chemoprophylaxis, as well as low-risk patients who require no chemoprophylaxis. Furthermore, administration of extended chemoprophylaxis was not associated with an increased risk of bleeding.