Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis in Plastic Surgery Patients Undergoing Facelift

Abstract

Objective: In 2005 the ASPS approved the VTE Task Force Report, which recommended use of the Caprini scoring system for plastic surgery patients; this system has been adopted for venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis by most surgical societies in the United States. The aim of this study is to investigate the incidence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) in patients undergoing facelifts at our institution, who were not chemoprophylaxed based on the Caprini scoring system. Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted of patients that underwent facelift at a single institution. Patients were included if they were operated on between 2016-2021 by the lead surgeon and excluded if they received VTE prophylaxis. Comorbidities, rate of VTE, and other relevant data was collected. Descriptive statistics were then conducted to analyze the collected date. Results: 136 patients were isolated after chart review, and no patients were found to have had DVT or VTE. The average Caprini score was 5.625 and ranged from 3 to 10. There was 1 patient with evidence of post-operative hematoma (Caprini score=7). Overall hematoma percentage was 0.735%. Conclusion: Based on the average Caprini score for our patients, all should have received chemoprophylaxis for VTE. We found no VTE-related events in our patients without chemoprophylaxis. This is consistent with a previous study of 1,453 patients receiving a variety of cosmetic procedures without chemoprophylaxis that had no VTE related events. Our study suggests that Caprini Scoring system might not be optimal in predicting VTE in aesthetic patients. Corresponding Author: Kenneth Shaheen, 3555 W 13 Mile Rd #120, Royal Oak, MI, 48073, [email protected], 248-890-2515