Evidence-Based Medicine Requires Appropriate Clinical Context - re: Deep VeingThrombosis (excerpt)

"What if a patient—after diagnostic tests have been performed and there is no more certainty to obtain—still has a 1 in 100 chance of having venous thromboembolism (VTE)? Should the patient's physician engage the patient in a discussion of the harm and benefit of anticoagulation? What if the chance of VTE was 1 in 20? Or even 1 in 10?"

Updated Analysis of Gene Variants Associated With Deep Vein Thrombosis

full free access: Duration and magnitude of the postoperative risk of venous thromboembolism in middle aged women: prospective cohort study

Note: the full access to this publication is available for free; professional comments included CONCLUSION: The risk of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism after surgery is substantially increased in the first 12 postoperative weeks, and varies considerably by type of surgery.

Venous Thromboembolism Risk and Prophylaxis in the Acute Care Hospital Setting (ENDORSE Survey): Findings in Surgical Patients

Note: study of data from 2004

"Use of prophylaxis varied according to major surgery type from 86.0% for orthopedic surgery to 53.8% in urologic/gynecologic...."  "Conclusions: The majority of surgical patients are at high-risk for VTE. Despite long-standing recognition of the high-risk for VTE in surgical patients, thromboprophylaxis remains underutilized."