title: Prevention of venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing surgical treatment of varicose veins.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  There is no consensus among surgeons with regard to prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients undergoing surgical treatment of varicose veins. We performed a systematic review of the available literature.
  
  
  METHODS
  We systematically searched the online database from PubMed for studies about the incidence of VTE and thromboprophylaxis in varicose vein surgery. We included 13 papers for review.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The incidence of VTE after varicose vein surgery remains unclear. Most retrospective case series report an incidence of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) of approximately 1%, based on a clinical diagnosis. However, three prospective studies have systematically detected DVT by means of duplex ultrasound and showed that the true incidence might be 5-10 times higher than expected on a clinical basis. Discussion More data on the incidence of VTE, and the need for postoperative thromboprophylaxis are necessary to formulate evidence-based clinical guidelines. Therefore, high-quality randomised clinical trials, with high numbers of included patients, and ideally comparing prophylaxis to placebo are warranted.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Centre, P. Debyelaan 25, 6202 AZ Maastricht, the Netherlands. mark.testroote@yahoo.com
authors.forename: M J G
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Testroote
authors.forename: C H A
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Wittens
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D018616:Ultrasonography, Doppler, Duplex; D014648:Varicose Veins / Q000601:surgery*; D014656:Vascular Surgical Procedures / Q000009:adverse effects*; D054556:Venous Thromboembolism / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*