Deep venous thrombosis in patients undergoing salvage radical cystectomy.

Objective: The possible occurrence of venous thrombosis in tumor-bearing patients had already been reported by Trousseau in the past century. The blood clotting alterations in cancer-bearing patients can cause Deep Venous Thrombosis (DVT), especially in those patients with disseminated metastases. Anti-tumor chemotherapy can increase the risk of thrombosis. Herein we report our past experience on a sample of patients who underwent pelvic surgery to treat infiltrating bladder tumors.

Methods: We have retrospectively analyzed the records of patients with infiltrating bladder tumors who underwent salvage radical cystectomy.

Results: We observed the highest incidence of DVT (33.3%; 3 out of 9) in those patients with a higher risk due to anesthesia and an absolute need for extensive surgery. One of our patients died of pulmonary embolism.

Conclusion: The diagnosis of DVT and Pulmonary Embolism is not always easy to achieve and all possible tests must be performed whenever possible (e.g. clinical examination, hematological test, etc.).