Funding outcome

The risk of blood clots in women with cancer of their reproductive organs (gynecological cancer) after they undergo major surgery in their abdomen or pelvis is well-established. Because of the known incidence and potentially fatal effects of blood clots in these women, they are put on preventative medication to stop these blood clots before they happen. However, the benefit of this preventative medication in patients with gynecological cancer undergoing minimally invasive surgery is controversial. The incidence of blood clots in these patients is estimated to be below 2%. The current use is based on certain risk criteria, such as lack of motility, obesity, history of blood clots and others, but these are present in a majority of patients with gynecological cancer and do not reflect the low incidence of blood clots. These risk factors have been extrapolated from colorectal cancer but to date, no studies have explored risk factors for the development of blood clots in minimally invasive surgery for gynecological cancers. We hope to develop a risk-score to determine who will benefit most from preventative medication. We hypothesize that although the absolute risk for blood clots in these women is low, the relative risk for certain subsets of patients may be high and these women would benefit from this medication. This will be done through an analyses of patient data across Canada from 2014-2020 who have undergone minimally invasive surgery for gynecological cancers. The primary outcome we are measuring is the incidence of a blood clot 90 days after surgery, with secondary outcomes of potential risk factors. These risks factors will not be able to be assessed in smaller scale studies, due to the rare incidence of blood clots, and needs a large, multi-centre study such as this one. This study will help identify women at greatest risk of blood clots to intervene early to ensure only women who will benefit from the therapy are subjected to its potential side effects.