title: The risk of thromboembolism in patients undergoing colorectal surgery.
abstract: Patients undergoing colorectal surgical procedures are at a moderately high risk for the development of thromboembolic events. Possible reasons may be that the procedures tend to be long in duration, patients are often placed in the lithotomy position, a pelvic dissection may be performed, and the indication is often inflammatory bowel disease or cancer. While prophylaxis with low dose heparin is effective at reducing this risk, approximately 10% of patients may still develop a thromboembolic event. Results on the effectiveness of low molecular weight heparin in this cohort of patients are pending.
authors.affiliation: Department of General and Colorectal Surgery, Mount Sinai Hospital, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: McLeod
mesh_terms: D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003106:Colon / Q000601:surgery*; D006493:Heparin / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006495:Heparin, Low-Molecular-Weight / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012007:Rectum / Q000601:surgery*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants; D006495:Heparin, Low-Molecular-Weight; D006493:Heparin