The Current Status of Thromboprophylaxis after Trauma: A Story of Confusion and Uncertainty

Abstract

It is difficult to support a standard of care for venous thromboprophylaxis after trauma when there is no convincing research that any of the currently used methods is consistently effective. Because many conclusions from the nontrauma literature have been misleadingly extrapolated to trauma patients, this review focuses exclusively on trauma articles. These articles present variable results. The rates of deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism are widely different even among similar trauma populations. The heparin-unfractionated or low-molecular-weight and calf compression methods fail to show a reproducible effect in decreasing venous thromboembolic events. The current methods of venous thromboprophylaxis after trauma are inadequate and further research in this area is direly needed.