Among patients with hematologic malignancy, critical illness and certain baseline characteristics were associated with a higher incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE).

Among 76,803 eligible patients (mean age 67 years [standard deviation, SD, 15]), 20,524 had at least one ICU admission. The incidence of VTE was 3.7% in ICU patients compared to 1.2% in non-ICU patients (odds ratio [OR] 3.08; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.77–3.42).

The incidence of major bleeding was 7.6% and 2.4% (OR 3.33; 95% CI 3.09–3.58), respectively. The association of critical illness and VTE remained significant after adjusting for potential confounders (OR 2.92; 95% CI 2.62–3.25). We observed a higher incidence of VTE among specific subtypes of hematologic malignancy and patients with prior VTE (OR 6.64; 95% CI 5.42–8.14).

Admission more than 1 year after diagnosis of hematologic malignancy (OR 0.64; 95% CI 0.56–0.74) and platelet count ≤ 50 × 109/L at the time of hospitalization (OR 0.63; 95% CI 0.48–0.84) were associated with a lower incidence of VTE.

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