ArticleGlobal spine journal2019
High Altitude Is an Independent Risk Factor for Developing a Pulmonary Embolism, but Not a Deep Vein Thrombosis Following a 1- to 2-Level Lumbar Fusion.
Article in Global spine journal, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effect of high elevation on deep vein thrombosis: a multicenter cohort study.Trauma surgery & acute care open · 2026Article
- High-Altitude Pulmonary Embolism: Epidemiology, Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, and Management.Canadian respiratory journal · 2025Review
- The Basic Principles of Pathophysiology of Venous Thrombosis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- The cardiovascular system at high altitude: A bibliometric and visualization analysis.World journal of cardiology · 2024Article
- Combined endovascular interventions for pulmonary embolism at high altitude in Tibet.Frontiers in cardiovascular medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- A Higher Altitude Is Associated with Increased Incidence of Infections following Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty.Hip & pelvis · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
STUDY
designRetrospective study.
objectiveTo identify if a 1- to 2-level posterior lumbar fusion at higher altitude is an independent risk factor for postoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE).
methodsA national Medicare database was queried for all patients undergoing 1- to 2-level lumbar fusions from 2005 to 2014. Those with a prior history of DVT, PE, coagulopathy, or peripheral vascular complications were excluded to better isolate altitude as the dependent variable. The groups were matched 1:1 based on age, gender, and comorbidities to limit potential cofounders. Using ZIP codes of the hospitals where the procedure occurred, we separated our patients into high (>4000 feet) and low (<100 feet) altitudes to investigate postoperative rates of DVTs and PEs at 90 days.
resultsCompared with lumbar fusions performed at low-altitude centers, patients undergoing the same procedure at high altitude had significantly higher PE rates (
conclusionSpinal fusions performed at altitudes >4000 feet incurred higher PE rates in the first 90 days compared with patients receiving the same surgery at <100 feet but did not incur higher rates of postoperative DVTs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.