Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Observational Study
. 2013 Nov 11:14:57.
doi: 10.1186/2050-6511-14-57.

The association between statin therapy during intensive care unit stay and the incidence of venous thromboembolism: a propensity score-adjusted analysis

Shmeylan A Al Harbi, Mohammad Khedr, Hasan M Al-Dorzi, Haytham M Tlayjeh, Asgar H Rishu, Yaseen M Arabi  1
Affiliations
Observational Study

The association between statin therapy during intensive care unit stay and the incidence of venous thromboembolism: a propensity score-adjusted analysis

Shmeylan A Al Harbi et al. BMC Pharmacol Toxicol. .

Abstract

Background: Studies have shown that statins have pleiotropic effects on inflammation and coagulation; which may affect the risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE). The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between statin therapy during intensive care unit (ICU) stay and the incidence of VTE in critically ill patients.

Methods: This was a post-hoc analysis of a prospective observational cohort study of patients admitted to the intensive care unit between July 2006 and January 2008 at a tertiary care medical center. The primary endpoint was the incidence of VTE during ICU stay up to 30 days. Secondary endpoint was overall 30-day hospital mortality. Propensity score was used to adjust for clinically and statistically relevant variables.

Results: Of the 798 patients included in the original study, 123 patients (15.4%) received statins during their ICU stay. Survival analysis for VTE risk showed that statin therapy was not associated with a reduction of VTE incidence (crude hazard ratio (HR) 0.66, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.28-1.54, P=0.33 and adjusted HR 0.63, 95% CI 0.25-1.57, P=0.33). Furthermore, survival analysis for hospital mortality showed that statin therapy was not associated with a reduction in hospital mortality (crude HR 1.26, 95% CI 0.95-1.68, P=0.10 and adjusted HR 0.98, 95% CI 0.72-1.36, P=0.94).

Conclusion: Our study showed no statistically significant association between statin therapy and VTE risk in critically ill patients. This question needs to be further studied in randomized control trials.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Kaplan-Meier curve and at risk table of the effect of statin use on venothromboembolism incidence in patients admitted to ICU.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Kaplan-Meier curve and risk table of the effect of statin use on hospital mortality in patients admitted to ICU.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Cook DJ, Crowther MA. Thromboprophylaxis in the intensive care unit: focus on medical-surgical patients. Crit Care Med. 2010;38(2 Suppl):S76–S82. - PubMed
    1. Cook D, Crowther M, Meade M, Rabbat C, Griffith L, Schiff D, Geerts W, Guyatt G. Deep venous thrombosis in medical-surgical critically ill patients: prevalence, incidence, and risk factors. Crit Care Med. 2005;33(7):1565–1571. doi: 10.1097/01.CCM.0000171207.95319.B2. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Naess IA, Christiansen SC, Romundstad P, Cannegieter SC, Rosendaal FR, Hammerstrom J. Incidence and mortality of venous thrombosis: a population-based study. J Thromb Haemost. 2007;5(4):692–699. doi: 10.1111/j.1538-7836.2007.02450.x. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Rosendaal FR, Vanhv A, Doggen CJ. Venous thrombosis in the elderly. J Thromb Haemost. 2007;5(Suppl 1):310–317. - PubMed
    1. Undas A, Brummel-Ziedins KE, Mann KG. Statins and blood coagulation. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol. 2005;25(2):287–294. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances