Risk factors and incidence of deep vein thrombosis in lower extremities among critically ill patients

Aims and objectives. To investigate how many critically ill patients developed deep vein thrombosis (DVT) during their admission to intensive care units (ICU) and to compare the characteristics of patients with and without deep vein thrombosis. Background. Critically ill patients are a high‐risk group for deep vein thrombosis because they typically have multiple risk factors, such as prolonged immobility, mechanical ventilation and old age. Design. A prospective observational study was employed. Methods. The subjects were 90 patients who were older than 18 years of age, who were admitted to an intensive care unit for more than five days and were not provided any prophylactic measures. Data were collected at a university hospital for five months. A duplex scan was performed on day 2·4 on average and repeated between days 5–7 to diagnose deep vein thrombosis. The iliac, femoral, popliteal and tibial veins were examined by compression and colour Doppler methods of the duplex scan by one technician. Results. Age, gender and body mass index were significant factors for deep vein thrombosis development (p