Minor Injuries as a Risk Factor for Venous Thrombosis

Abstract

Venous thrombosis is a multicausal disease affecting 1 to 3 per 1000 individuals each year.^1,2 Known risk factors are, among others, surgery, immobility, and several prothrombotic genetic variants.³ So far, studies^4-11 have focused on major injuries in hospitalized or deceased individuals; they were found to be major risk factors for venous thrombosis. However, apart from the injury itself, other risk factors for venous thrombosis will be present because of the major injury, such as surgery, a plaster cast, hospitalization, and extended bed rest. The risk of so-called minor injuries that do not lead to these additional factors is unknown. We set up a large, population-based, case-control study into the cause of venous thrombosis, the Multiple Environmental and Genetic Assessment of risk factors for venous thrombosis (MEGA) study. The present study had 4 main objectives: (1) to estimate the relative risk of venous thrombosis after a minor injury; (2) to investigate characteristics of minor injuries that contribute most to this risk, such as location and type of injury; (3) to estimate the relative risk of venous thrombosis of common injuries; and (4) to identify high-risk patients by assessing the joint effect of minor injuries with well-known genetic predispositions.