Risk factor analysis and prediction model construction for surgical patients with venous thromboembolism: a prospective study

Patients undergoing surgery are at high risk of developing venous thromboembolism (VTE). This study aimed to determine the predictive value of risk factors for VTE in surgical patients and to develop a prediction model by integrating independent predictors. A total of 1,111 patients who underwent surgery at clinical departments in a tertiary general hospital were recruited between May and July 2021. Clinical data including patient-related, surgery-related, and laboratory parameters were extracted from the hospital information system and electronic medical records. A VTE prediction model incorporating ten risk variables was constructed using artificial neural networks (ANNs). Ten independent factors (X1: age, X2: alcohol consumption, X3: hypertension, X4: bleeding, X5: blood transfusions, X6: general anesthesia, X7: intrathecal anesthesia, X8: D-dimer, X9: C-reactive protein, and X10: lymphocyte percentage) were identified as associated with an increased risk of VTE. Ten-fold cross validation results showed that the ANN model was capable of predicting VTE in surgical patients, with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.89, a Brier score of 0.01, an accuracy of 0.96, and a F1 score of 0.92. The ANN model slightly outperformed the logistic regression model and the Caprini model, but a DeLong test showed that the statistical difference in the AUCs of the ANN and logistic regression models was insignificant (P>0.05). Ten statistical indicators relevant to VTE risk prediction for surgical patients were identified, and ANN and logistic regression both showed promising results as decision-supporting tools for VTE prediction.