We already know that Covid-19 can cause complications, including the appearance of blood clots. It is for this reason that an anticoagulant treatment can be administered to hospitalized patients.
A new study by French researchers confirms this risk and highlights the high number of patients with severe form of Covid-19 affected by deep vein thrombosis. Also called phlebitis, this cardiovascular disorder is characterized by the formation of a blood clot in a vein that can lead to pulmonary embolism.
Almost half of patients with phlebitis
For the purposes of this research, carried out by a team from Lariboisière Hospital in Paris and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the researchers followed 56 intubated and ventilated patients due to Covid-19 pneumonia. All were receiving preventive anticoagulant therapy and had also undergone two dopplers a few days apart, an examination to detect phlebitis.
Result: 26 of these patients, in other words 46% of them were affected by deep vein thrombosis. Almost half of these Covid-19 patients were therefore affected by phlebitis. A number of cases "very high", which worries the authors of the study.
Covid-19 and phlebitis: other preventive treatments studied
These conclusions highlight "a very high prevalence of deep venous thrombosis, a large proportion of which is potentially fatal, in intubated Covid-19 patients, despite standard anticoagulant treatment applied as prevention", say the researchers.
To limit the risk of phlebitis in these patients, "The team is currently evaluating other anticoagulation regimes, making it possible to prevent more effectively", read a press release from the AP-HP.
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