Incidence and Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Critical Care: A Population-based Observational Cohort Study.

Cohort studyAnnals of the American Thoracic Society· Jul 2026

Incidence and Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Critical Care: A Population-based Observational Cohort Study.

Alexandre Tran, Robert Talarico, Tzu-Fei Wang … Marc Carrier

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Venous ThromboembolismCohort studyPrognosisQ1IF 3.2

ICU exposure was associated with higher 90-day risk of venous thromboembolism.

Incidence and Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Critical Care: A Population-based Observational Cohort Study.

Alexandre Tran … Marc Carrier

Annals of the American Thoracic Society · Jul 2026

Background

Venous thromboembolism (venous thromboembolism) remains an important complication of critical illness, but contemporary population-level estimates of clinically recognized venous thromboembolism and ICU-associated risk are limited.

Purpose

To quantify 90-day venous thromboembolism incidence in ICU vs non-ICU hospitalizations, estimate the adjusted association between ICU exposure and venous thromboembolism, and identify factors associated with venous thromboembolism within the ICU cohort.

Methods

We conducted a population-based cohort study using linked health administrative data in Ontario, Canada (ICES).

Results

icu patients faced 38% higher risk of clot, adjusted for other factors

AHR 1.38 (95% CI 1.34 to 1.43)

null 1

1.34

1.43

CI excludes the null - significant

More results

Among 4,821,130 index hospitalizations, 575,155 (11.9%) had ICU exposure.

Ninety-day venous thromboembolism occurred in 43,913 (0.9%) overall and was higher in ICU vs non-ICU hospitalizations (1.6% vs 0.8%; Gray's test P < 0.001).

More results

In the ICU cohort, higher venous thromboembolism risk was associated with prior venous thromboembolism, cancer, recent surgery, prolonged ICU stay, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and traumatic brain injury.

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Conclusion

Hospitalizations involving ICU exposure were associated with higher 90-day clinically recognized venous thromboembolism risk, and risk was concentrated in identifiable high-risk ICU subgroups, supporting risk stratification and risk-enriched future studies.

Incidence and Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Critical Care: A Population-based Observational Cohort Study.

Incidence and Risk of Venous Thromboembolism in Critical Care: A Population-based Observational Cohort Study.

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