Unmet definitions in thromboprophylaxis for hospitalized medical patients: An appraisal for the need of recommendation

Up to about 60% of venous thromboembolic events in a community are associated with hospitalization, and most can be prevented by appropriate thromboprophylaxis. Several randomized clinical trials and guidelines have addressed the issue of thromboprophylaxis in hospitalized patients and recommended strategies to assess patients' risk and thromboprophylaxis. Simple and validated risk assessment models are available to assist physicians in selecting patients who are at high risk for VTE, in whom thromboprophylaxis should be used. However, some concepts employed are imprecise or not appropriately defined. Indeed, there has been wide variation in the onset, duration, and adequacy of thromboprophylaxis, as well as in the definition of some risk factors. In this article, we highlight these issues and the unmet definitions in thromboprophylaxis in hospitalized patients mainly by addressing selected randomized clinical trials and guidelines.