Objective To evaluate the effect of intermittent inflatable compression on venous thrombosis (VTE) and femoral vein blood flow velocity in tumor patients by Meta-analysis.

Methods PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, The Cochrane Library, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, VIP database and Chinese Biomedical literature were searched to obtain randomized controlled trials of intermittent inflatable compression as an intervention for tumor patients. The retrieval period was from database construction to September 2022. Data were extracted independently by two researchers, and Meta-analysis was performed by RevMan5.4 software and Stata15.1 software, and Egger′s was applied to test publication bias.

Results A total of 20 articles were included. Meta-analysis showed that the incidence of VTE in intermittent inflatable compression group (RR=0.35; 95%CI, 0.23 to 0.53; P < 0.01), intermittent inflatable compression combined with gradient pressure tension socks group (RR=0.42; 95%CI, 0.31 to 0.57; P < 0.01), intermittent inflatingpressure combined with anticoagulant drugs group (RR=0.38; 95%CI, 0.20 to 0.72; P < 0.01) was lower than the conventional group (or gradient pressure tension socks group), conventional group (or gradient pressure tension socks group) and anticoagulant drug group, respectively. The preventive effect of the intermittent inflatable compression group was worse than that of anticoagulant group (RR=3.48; 95%CI, 1.66 to 7.28; P < 0.01). The blood flow velocity of lower limb femoral vein in the intermittent inflatable compression group was faster than that in the control group (MD=0.35; 95%CI, 0.11 to 0.60; P < 0.01).

Conclusion Intermittent pneumatic compression devices can increase the blood flow velocity of the femoral veins in tumor patients and prevent venous thrombosis. However, anticoagulation alone is not a substitute for anticoagulation, and it is recommended that it should be clinically combined with other interventions to reduce the incidence of venous thrombosis.