Polish guidelines for the prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism. 2012 update

Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in cancer patients — guidelines focus on surgical patients

“…At the same time, however, attempts of treatment, especially surgical treatment, increase the risk of this complication [4,9,10,14,15,32,33]. Surgery affects the risk of thrombosis through multiple factors; tissue trauma due to surgical procedures, periprocedural immobilization, blood and plasma substitution, positive pressure ventilation, potential inflammation foci or intravenous catheters [14,[34][35][36][37][38][39].…”

“…Because of oncological indications, in most cases of cancer patients qualified for surgical treatment, we should assume the population of these patients as high risk and very high risk of VTE [4,14,15]. The increased risk is also reflected in the proposed models of thromboembolic complication risk assessment, such as in the perioperative risk of VTE scale proposed by Caprini, in which the presence of cancer corresponds to 2 points (Table 1) [15,[45][46][47].…”

“…According to current knowledge, while evaluating the risk of VTE, it is extremely important to take into consideration the presence of other risk factors, especially those related to the presence of comorbidities and a clinical condition causing an increased risk of VTE (obesity, prolonged immobilization, varicose veins, hormonal therapy, previous cerebrovascular event resulting in paralysis, prior episode of VTE and other) [14,15,48]. It must be emphasized that diseases recently defined as in the spectrum of nonsurgical medical fields, are among currently recognized risk factors of VTE.…”

Usefulness of intermittent pneumatic compression in medicine

“…The American College of Chest Physicians has recommended mechanical methods (foot or low leg pneumatic pump) alone primarily in patients at high risk of bleeding [26] and, because of their extra benefit, as an additional modality in prophylactic procedures in patients after orthopaedic surgery [27][28][29][30]. The same indications are found in the Polish guidelines [31].…”

Thromboprophylaxis in women undergoing gynecological surgery or assisted reproductive techniques: new advances and challenges

“…Patients with cancer have up to 7-fold increase risk of VTE in comparison to the general population [14][15][16]. It has been reported that approximately 38% of gynecological oncology patients will suffer from perioperative thromboembolic complications without VTE prophylaxis, and PE remains the leading cause of postoperative death among these patients [17,18].…”