Incidence of Venous Thromboembolism in Orthopedic Surgery

J.V. Llau (ed.), Thromboembolism in Orthopedic Surgery, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4471-4336-9_2, © Springer-Verlag London 2013 Abstract Venous thromboembolic disease in hospitalized patients results in substantial mortality, morbidity, and healthcare resource use. While the true incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) is dif fi cult to determine, autopsy studies have shown that 5–10 % of hospital deaths are attributable to pulmonary embolism. Major orthopedic surgery is associated with a very high risk of VTE: without thromboprophylaxis objectively con fi rmed deep-vein thrombosis may occur in up to 60 % of patients within 2 weeks after lower extremity orthopedic surgery. Between 10 and 30 % of symptomatic VTE events present as proximal deep-vein thrombosis, with the potential to lead to post-thrombotic syndrome or pulmonary embolism. As both symptomatic and subclinical thromboembolism are common in patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery, risk assessment and, where appropriate, thromboprophylaxis should be considered.