The Impact of Age on Percutaneous Thrombectomy Outcomes in the Management of Lower Extremity Deep Vein Thrombosis

Aim: Percutaneous thrombectomy (PT) results may differ in elderly patients compared to younger patients. We analyzed the effect of being elderly on PT results for lower extremity deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Methods: We retrospectively reviewed patient charts who were treated with PT for lower extremity (common iliac, external iliac, femoral, and popliteal veins) DVT between October 2016 and March 2021, and patients with unilateral lower extremity DVT and older than 18 years old were enrolled in the cohort study. Patients' preoperative characteristics, operative parameters, and post-procedural outcomes were stored in the electronic data system. All participants were divided into 2 groups according to being elderly or not, as patients <65 years and patients >= 65 years. The two groups were compared in terms of preoperative patient data, operative parameters, and postoperative results. Results: One hundred and five patients were enrolled in the study (62 patients were <65 years of age and 43 patients were >= 65 years of age). The mean hospitalization time was 3.1 days for non-elderly patients and 3.8 days for elderly patients (p=0.030). In addition, the duration of mean intensive care unit (ICU) stay was significantly longer in elderly patients (1.2 vs 1.7, p=0.024). Older patients had a lower success rate, but the difference was not statistically significant (93.5% vs 88.4%, p=0.482). Grade 1-2 Clavien-Dindo complications and the overall complication rate were significantly higher in elderly patients (6.4% vs 20.9%, p=0.027 and 12.9% vs 30.2%, p=0.029). The Pearson correlation test revealed that older age was associated with longer hospitalization time and ICU stay (p=0.001 and p=0.001). Conclusion: Elderly patients are more frail depending on age and comorbidities, and the hospitalization time and ICU stay after PT are prolonged in these patients. In addition, elderly patients face significantly more complications following PT in comparison with non-elderly patients.