Frequency of thromboembolism in COVID-19 patients admitted to Shahid Rahimi Hospital in Khorramabad in 2020-2021

Background: COVID-19 infection initially results in respiratory complications; however, it may be associated with a hypercoagulable state, leading to arterial and venous thromboembolism. Thus, this study aimed to investigate the frequency of thromboembolism in COVID-19 patients admitted to Shahid Rahimi Hospital in Khorramabad. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional (analytical) study, all patients with COVID-19 were admitted to Shahid Rahimi Hospital in Khorramabad from October 2020 to the end of September 2021. Laboratory and clinical variables of patients with positive polymerase chain reaction tests were collected. The incidence of thromboembolism was investigated in patients with radiological reports, and then the data were analyzed using SPSS25 software. The significance level was considered at < 0.05. Results: Out of 3,612 patients with COVID-19, 19 had pulmonary thromboembolism. Diabetic patients accounted for 2.5%, patients with a history of hypertension accounted for 1.8%, and patients with a history of heart disease accounted for 1.5% of pulmonary thromboembolism cases. Patients with a smoking history constituted 0.5%, deceased patients represented 0.8%, and discharged patients also accounted for 0.5% of pulmonary thromboembolism cases. Patients who received at least one dose of the vaccine made up 0.4%, and patients with a previous COVID-19 infection accounted for 0.5% of pulmonary thromboembolism cases. There was a significant correlation between diabetes, hypertension, age, and a previous history of COVID-19 with the incidence of pulmonary thromboembolism (P<0.05). Conclusion: Diabetes and high blood pressure increase the risk of pulmonary embolism in COVID-19. Therefore, those suffering from underlying diseases need more care regarding COVID-19.