Venous thromboembolism prevention in the acutely ill medical patient: a review of the literature and focus on special patient populations.
Although venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major public health problem, until recently, our understanding of the risk of VTE in hospitalized acutely ill medical patients has been incomplete. Fortunately, over the past 5 years, there has been an increasing body of literature that highlights the risk of VTE in the nonsurgical patient, identifies unique patient-risk factors, and defines adequate preventative measures. This review highlights the current literature with regard to epidemiology of VTE in hospitalized medical patients and the risk-stratification of these patients and deals with optimal preventative regimens and prevention strategies in special patient groups.
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84132, USA. robert.pendleton@hsc.utah.edu
Robert
R
Pendleton
Michelle
M
Wheeler
George
G
Rodgers
D016638:Critical Illness / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality; D012307:Risk Factors; D013923:Thromboembolism / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*