Risk factors of portal vein thrombosis after surgery for cirrhotic portal hypertension        LU Xiang, ZHAO Qing-chuan, HAN Guo-hong, et al. Department of Digestive Surgery, Xijing Hospital of Digestive Disease, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi’an 710032, China
Corresponding author: ZHAO Qing-chuan, E-mail: zhaoqc@fmmu.edu.cn
Abstract    Objective    To study the risk factors of portal vein thrombosis (PVT) after surgery for cirrhotic portal hypertension. Methods    The clinical data of 87 consecutive patients received splenorenal shunt combined with devascularization or splenectomy combined with devascularization between March 2008 and August 2010 in Xijing Hospital of Digestive Disease, Fourth Military Medical University were analyzed retrospectively. Results    The overall incidence of PVT was 17.24% (15/87). In patients performed splenectomy combined with devascularization and performed splenorenal shunt combined with devascularization, the incidence was 19.70% (13/66) and 9.52% (2/21) respectively. Wider portal vein diameter, slower portal blood flow, increased portal vein pressure, higher levels of D-dimer and cholesterol were correlated with the incidence of PVT positively in the univariate analyze (all P<0.05). No significant difference of age, sex, Child-Pugh class, fibrinogen, prothrombin time and platelets count between patients with and without PVT was detected. Multivariate analysis demonstrated that increased levels of D-dimer (OR=8.083，P=0.014) and cholesterol (OR=5.888，P=0.017) were independent risk factors of PVT after surgery. Conclusion    Higher levels of D-dimer and cholesterol indicate a higher incidence of PVT after surgery for cirrhotic portal hypertension. It is necessary to detect the level of D-dimer and cholesterol for the prevention of PVT.