Incidence of Perioperative Venous Thromboembolism in Vulvar Cancer

Objective: To determine the 30-day perioperative incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) events in patients undergoing radical vulvectomy for vulvar cancer. Based on the Caprini Risk Assessment Model, patients undergoing radical vulvectomy for invasive cancer are at least moderate risk for VTE. Most patients have additional risk factors that make them high or highest risk. High-risk patients have an estimated 6% risk of VTE and receive both mechanical and pharmacologic anticoagulation. Recent studies report the incidence of symptomatic VTE in vaginal or vulvar cancer to be 1%–4%, though sample size has limited these studies.