Abstract: Objective To investigate the clinical features and risk factors of venous thromboembolism(VTE) in the elderly patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(AECOPD). Methods From January 2016 to December 2019, 208 confirmed elderly patients with AECOPD in our hospital were enrolled. According to the occurence of VTE, the patients were divided into AECOPD + VTE group(49 cases) or AECOPD group(159 cases). The clinical and laboratory data were collected and compared between 2 groups, and the risk factors of VTE were analyzed. Results Intermuscular venous thrombosis occurred most in the AECOPD+VTE group, reaching 64.0% in the patients aged under 80 years old and 91.7% in the patients aged over 80 years old. There were significant differences in age, history of VTE, immobilization time＞3 d, asymmetrical edema, coronary heart disease(CHD), GOLD classification, serum levels of albumin and D-dimer between the two groups(P<0.05). Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that the history of VTE, CHD and higher level of D-dimer were independent risk factors of VTE in the elderly AECOPD patients. Conclusions The morbidity of lower-limb intermuscular venous thrombosis is high, and the history of VTE, CHD and higher level of D-dimer are independent risk factors of VTE in the the elderly AECOPD patients.

Key words: aged, acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, venous thromboembolism, clinical features, risk factor