title: Prophylaxis and treatment of deep vein thrombosis in general surgery.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Patients undergoing general surgery present an inherent risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Evidence-based strategies for prevention and treatment of DVT should be continuously upgraded on the basis of good-quality recent trials.
  
  
  METHODS
  Articles were identified using MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library databases (January 1980 to July 2003). Randomized clinical trials and meta-analyses in which different prophylactic and treatment methods were compared for general surgery patients were selected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In general surgery, low-molecular weight heparins (LMWHs) are relied upon more and more for prophylaxis and initial anticoagulant treatment of DVT, because of their multiple advantages in efficacy, safety, and convenience in handling. For cost-effective reasons, full-dose vitamin K antagonists are still preferred as the standard long-term anticoagulation method, while LMWHs represent the exception. Long-term use of low-intensity warfarin should be considered a new standard of care for the management of venous thrombosis. Compared to LMWH, the new anticoagulant molecules fondaparinux and ximelagatran seem to have similar efficacy in the treatment of venous thromboembolism, but they have a 2-fold increased efficacy in its prophylaxis. Clinical implementation of these new anticoagulant molecules depends on their cost-effectiveness; however, they have the potential to become the treatment of choice in the next decade. Thrombolysis has an unacceptable risk of hemorrhagic complications when used in the treatment of postoperative DVT. Furthermore, there are no data to prove that thrombolysis reduces the incidence of postthrombotic syndrome (PTS), despite early and complete recanalization achieved by thrombolysis. Surgical thrombectomy is only meant to decompress the venous hypertension consecutive to massive thrombosis (phlegmasia cerulea dolens) and thus to avoid venous gangrene. Other mechanical percutaneous thrombectomy devices are under evaluation. In selected cases, a combination treatment consisting of locoregional thrombolysis of the crurofemoral venous axis and mechanical thrombectomy of the pelvic venous axis achieves high rates of complete desobliteration.
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, Ruprecht-Karls-University, Im Neuenheimer Feld 110, D-62120 Heidelberg, Germany. carsten_gutt@med.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Carsten N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Gutt
authors.forename: Traian
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oniu
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Wolkener
authors.forename: Ari
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mehrabi
authors.forename: Shilu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mistry
authors.forename: Markus W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Büchler
mesh_terms: D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006495:Heparin, Low-Molecular-Weight / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative; D017131:Thrombectomy; D015912:Thrombolytic Therapy; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000601:surgery; D014812:Vitamin K / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D014859:Warfarin / Q000008:administration & dosage
chemical_list: D000925:Anticoagulants; D006495:Heparin, Low-Molecular-Weight; D014812:Vitamin K; D014859:Warfarin