WEDNESDAY, Sept. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Yearly pediatric hospital cases of venous thromboembolism (VTE) have risen 70 percent in this decade, with many children having coexisting chronic conditions, according to a study published online Sept. 7 in Pediatrics.
Leslie Raffini, M.D., from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and colleagues examined the rates of VTE among 11,337 children and adolescents less than 18 years old who were discharged from up to 40 children's hospitals in the United States from 2001 to 2007.
The researchers found that the rate of VTE per year rose by 70 percent, from 34 to 58 per 10,000 patients, and the increase was observed in patients of all ages. Most (63 percent) had one or more coexisting chronic complex medical conditions. Those with more than one VTE admission were more likely to have a coexisting condition, with cancer being the most common. The use of enoxaparin increased significantly from 29 to 49 percent over the seven year period, while the use of warfarin fell significantly from 11.4 to 9.6 percent.
"This multicenter study demonstrates a dramatic increase in the diagnosis of VTE at children's hospitals from 2001 to 2007," Raffini and colleagues conclude.
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