The effect of catheter‐directed thrombolytic use on readmission rates and in‐hospital outcomes among cancer patients with venous thromboembolism in the United States

Background Cancer inducing a hypercoagulable state, venous thromboembolism (VTE) remains a leading cause of morbidity and mortality globally. We assessed the impacts of cancer on the likelihood for readmission after a VTE‐targeted procedure. Methods We created a new cohort using discharge‐level data from all hospitalizations from State Inpatient Databases of geographically dispersed participating states (18‐27 states). Results In those presenting with VTE during index‐admission (619 241), 2.4% patients underwent catheter directed thrombolytic therapy (CDL) on index admission and among those 20.3% had cancer. Moreover, the 30‐day readmission rate amongst CDL recipients (10 776 overall) was 14.3% in those with cancer compared to 8.8% in those with no cancer history ( P  < .0001). Additionally, in‐hospital mortality (5.7% vs 1.1%; P  = 0.009) and cost‐of‐care ($11 014 ± 914 vs $10 520 ± 534; P  = .04) was significantly higher in cancer compared to noncancer. Conclusion The use of CDL does not appear to reduce the risk of returning for a VTE‐related admission in cancer.