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Semin Thromb Hemost 1997; 23(1): 55-67
DOI: 10.1055/s-2007-996071
Copyright © 1997 by Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc.

Identification of Candidates for Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism

Gian Franco Gensini, Domenico Prisco, Michela Falciani, Marco Comeglio, Andrea Colella
  • From the Istituto di Clinica Medica Generale e Cardiologia, University of Florence, Firenze, Italy.
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Publication History

Publication Date:
06 February 2008 (online)

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Abstract

The rationale for prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is based on the frequently clinically silent nature of the disease. A number of risk factors for VTE have been known for a long time, even if some of them are still controversial. Many studies have been performed in the surgical field, and have established different risk classes for VTE. Such risk stratification is especially determined by type of surgery and to some extent by personal characteristics of patients, and it defines operations at high, intermediate, and low risk for VTE. According to this classification, prophylaxis of VTE is mandatory in some cases, less useful in others. Less information is available on medical diseases, in which the clinical conditions and the intrinsic characteristics of patients determine the class of risk for VTE. Different strategies for identifying patients who should undergo prophylaxis have been proposed based on risk factor evaluation in the individual patient. However, even if such an approach may be of help for the physician, its validity is still impaired by the difficulty of taking into account all of the variables possibly involved in VTE occurrence.

Keywords:

Venous thromboembolism - deep vein thrombosis (DVT) - pulmonary embolism (PE) - risk factors - prophylaxis

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