Approaching Venous Thrombosis in General Surgery Patients

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) manifesting as deep vein thrombosis(DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE), is one of the most common complications of hospitalization and is associated with short and long-term morbidity, mortality and resource expenditure. Routine use of thromboprophylaxis reduces adverse patient outcomes while at the same time decreasing overall costs. Almost all hospitalized patients have at least one associated risk factor for VTE, and approximately 40% have three or more risk factors (Table 1)(1).