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Review
. 2022 Jan-Dec:28:1076029620939181.
doi: 10.1177/1076029620939181.

Position Paper on the Management of Pregnancy-Associated Superficial Venous Thrombosis. Balkan Working Group for Prevention and Treatment of Venous Thromboembolism

Darko Antic  1   2 , Eleftheria Lefkou  3 , Vladimir Otasevic  1 , Ljiljana Banfic  4 , Evangelos Dimakakos  5 , Dan Olinic  6 , Dragan Milić  7 , Predrag Miljić  1   2 , Sokol Xhepa  8 , Igor Stojkovski  9 , Matija Kozak  10 , Doina Ruxandra Dimulescu  11 , Tamara Kovačević Preradović  12 , Jasminka Nancheva  13 , Evelina Evtimova Pazvanska  14 , Gregor Tratar  15 , Grigoris T Gerotziafas  3   16
Affiliations
Review

Position Paper on the Management of Pregnancy-Associated Superficial Venous Thrombosis. Balkan Working Group for Prevention and Treatment of Venous Thromboembolism

Darko Antic et al. Clin Appl Thromb Hemost. 2022 Jan-Dec.

Abstract

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a multifactorial disease that can possibly affect any part of venous circulation. The risk of VTE increases by about 2 fold in pregnant women and VTE is one of the major causes of maternal morbidity and mortality. For decades superficial vein thrombosis (SVT) has been considered as benign, self-limiting condition, primarily local event consequently being out of scope of well conducted epidemiological and clinical studies. Recently, the approach on SVT has significantly changed considering that prevalence of lower limb SVT is twice higher than both deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). The clinical severity of SVT largely depends on the localization of thrombosis, when it concerns the major superficial vein vessels of the lower limb and particularly the great saphenous vein. If untreated or inadequately treated, SVT can potentially cause DVT or PE. The purpose of this review is to discuss the complex interconnection between SVT and risk factors in pregnancy and to provide evidence-based considerations, suggestions, and recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of this precarious and delicate clinical entity.

Keywords: pregnancy; superficial vein thrombosis; thrombosis; venous thrombembolic disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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