Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Feb 24;6(1):e000643.
doi: 10.1136/tsaco-2020-000643. eCollection 2021.

Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in the trauma intensive care unit: an American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Critical Care Committee Clinical Consensus Document

Joseph F Rappold  1 , Forest R Sheppard  1 , Samuel P Carmichael Ii  2 , Joseph Cuschieri  3 , Eric Ley  4 , Erika Rangel  5 , Anupamaa J Seshadri  6 , Christopher P Michetti  7
Affiliations

Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in the trauma intensive care unit: an American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Critical Care Committee Clinical Consensus Document

Joseph F Rappold et al. Trauma Surg Acute Care Open. .

Abstract

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a potential sequela of injury, surgery, and critical illness. Patients in the Trauma Intensive Care Unit are at risk for this condition, prompting daily discussions during patient care rounds and routine use of mechanical and/or pharmacologic prophylaxis measures. While VTE rightfully garners much attention in clinical patient care and in the medical literature, optimal strategies for VTE prevention are still evolving. Furthermore, trauma and surgical patients often have real or perceived contraindications to prophylaxis that affect the timing of preventive measures and the consistency with which they can be applied. In this Clinical Consensus Document, the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Critical Care Committee addresses several practical clinical questions pertaining to specific or unique aspects of VTE prophylaxis in critically ill and injured patients.

Keywords: intensive care units; multiple trauma; venous thromboembolism; venous thrombosis.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

References

    1. Geerts WH, Jay RM, Code KI, Chen E, Szalai JP, Saibil EA, Hamilton PA. A comparison of low-dose heparin with low-molecular-weight heparin as prophylaxis against venous thromboembolism after major trauma. N Engl J Med 1996;335:701–7. 10.1056/NEJM199609053351003 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Byrne JP, Mason SA, Gomez D, Hoeft C, Subacius H, Xiong W, Neal M, Pirouzmand F, Nathens AB. Timing of pharmacologic venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in severe traumatic brain injury: a Propensity-Matched cohort study. J Am Coll Surg 2016;223:621–31. 10.1016/j.jamcollsurg.2016.06.382 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Barrera LM, Perel P, Ker K, Cirocchi R, Farinella E, Morales Uribe CH, Hernando C, Uribe M. Thromboprophylaxis for trauma patients. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2013:CD008303. 10.1002/14651858.CD008303.pub2 - DOI - PubMed
    1. O'Donnell M, Weitz JI. Thromboprophylaxis in surgical patients. Can J Surg 2003;46:129–35. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Geerts WH, Code KI, Jay RM, Chen E, Szalai JP. A prospective study of venous thromboembolism after major trauma. N Engl J Med 1994;331:1601. 10.1056/NEJM199412153312401 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources