Mortality and bleeding events
The all-cause mortality was 38% (19/50). The mortality rate for the
anticoagulation and no anticoagulation groups was 30% (n=3) and 40%
(n=16), respectively, and this was not statistically significant (p
=.7222). These deaths were mostly related to cancer progression and one
patient died of pulmonary embolism (patient 6).
A larger percentage of patients on anticoagulation had bleeding
complications than patients who did not receive anticoagulation (p
<.05) (Anticoagulation cohort: n=4, 40%; no anticoagulation
cohort: n=2, 5%). Of the 4 anticoagulated patients who bled, 3 had
gastrointestinal bleeding. One with massive post-op intra-abdominal
bleeding requiring exploratory laparotomy, two with bloody stool with no
notable drop in hemoglobin. One patient had mild epistaxis and gingival
bleeding. Two of the 40 patients who did not receive anticoagulation had
bleeding complications, including one with intra-operative hemorrhagic
shock due to intra-tumoral bleeding. No statistical difference was noted
for bleeding events based on gender, ethnicity, or the type of tumor.