VIDEO: Age may affect pulmonary embolism risk in patients with lower extremity fractures
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Key takeaways:
- Results showed older age is associated with increased pulmonary embolism risk in patients with lower extremity fractures.
- The speaker said future studies should examine prevention strategies stratified by age.
In this video from the Orthopaedic Trauma Association Annual Meeting, Thompson Zhuang, MD, MBA, discusses age-related risk factors for pulmonary embolism in patients with lower extremity fractures.
“Our main finding was that advanced age is independently associated with a progressive increase in [pulmonary embolism] PE risk despite anticoagulation use in patients with lower extremity fractures,” Zhuang, a PGY-3 resident at the University of Pennsylvania, told Healio.
“We need more research to look at [venous thromboembolism] VTE prevention strategies that are stratified by age, since older age groups are at higher baseline risk,” Zhuang said. “Higher-age patients who sustain lower extremity fractures might need stronger prevention agents, something like a [direct-acting oral anticoagulant] DOAC. And in these patients, perhaps [inferior vena cava] IVC filters might be considered prophylactically for VTE prevention, especially if they are at even higher risk as predicted by their comorbidities.”
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Zhuang T, et al. Paper 103. Presented at: Orthopaedic Trauma Association Annual Meeting; Oct. 23-26, 2024; Montreal, Québec, Canada.
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