Copyright: ©Author(s) 2026. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license. No commercial re-use. See permissions. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc.
World J Gastrointest Surg. Jun 27, 2026; 18(6): 117081
Published online Jun 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.117081
Published online Jun 27, 2026. doi: 10.4240/wjgs.117081
Early mobilization combined with intermittent pneumatic compression for deep vein thrombosis prevention after hepatocellular carcinoma surgery
Xiao-Jie Liang, Jin-Ling Dong, Department of Infectious Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital of Huzhou University (The First People’s Hospital of Huzhou), Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China
Qin-Xue Zhou, Department of Nursing, First Affiliated Hospital of Huzhou University (The First People’s Hospital of Huzhou), Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Liang XJ was responsible for study design, data analysis, and manuscript writing; Dong JL was responsible for clinical management of patients, data collection, and manuscript review; Zhou QX was responsible for implementation of early mobilization and intermittent pneumatic compression therapy, nursing team coordination, and data quality control. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
AI contribution statement: We used Grammarly for language polishing and DeepL for translation of certain non-critical sentences during the early drafting stage. No AI tool was used for scientific writing, content generation, or intellectual input. All sections of the main text were originally written by the authors. AI tools were not used to generate any scientific content, including hypotheses, experimental design, data interpretation, or conclusions. No AI tool was used for data analysis or substantive writing assistance. The study design, methodology, data analysis, and interpretation of results were performed solely by the authors. All figures, graphs, and images were created by the authors using standard scientific software (e.g., GraphPad Prism, SPSS, or similar), or were original experimental data.
Supported by Huzhou Science and Technology Bureau Public Welfare Applied Research Project (Medical and Health General Project), No. 2021GY19.
Institutional review board statement: This study was reviewed and approved by the Medical Research and Clinical Trial Ethics Committee of Huzhou First People’s Hospital (The First Affiliated Hospital of Huzhou University), approval No. 2022KYLL028.
Informed consent statement: The requirement for written informed consent was waived by the Medical Research and Clinical Trial Ethics Committee of Huzhou First People’s Hospital because this was a retrospective study using previously collected clinical data, with no patient identifiers and no additional risk to participants.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Data sharing statement: The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
Corresponding author: Qin-Xue Zhou, Department of Nursing, First Affiliated Hospital of Huzhou University (The First People’s Hospital of Huzhou), No. 158 Guangchanghou Road, Huzhou 313000, Zhejiang Province, China. zhouqinxue2025@163.com
Received: January 6, 2026
Revised: February 1, 2026
Accepted: March 10, 2026
Published online: June 27, 2026
Processing time: 159 Days and 9.1 Hours
Revised: February 1, 2026
Accepted: March 10, 2026
Published online: June 27, 2026
Processing time: 159 Days and 9.1 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: Early mobilization and intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) are two effective physical strategies for preventing postoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT). However, their combined application in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) surgery has rarely been investigated. This retrospective study demonstrated that early mobilization combined with IPC significantly reduced postoperative DVT incidence, decreased D-dimer levels, improved limb function, and accelerated recovery without increasing adverse events. The findings suggest that this combined protocol is a safe, feasible, and enhanced recovery after surgery-based strategy for DVT prevention after HCC surgery.