Prevention of thromboembolic complications in otorhinolaryngological surgery

The article reviews current clinical guidelines and recent publications on the perioperative prophylaxis of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in ENT-HNS patients. The literature review is descriptive and includes foreign sources and national guidelines on diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of VTE. The average risk of VTE in otorhinolaryngology - head and neck surgery is lower than in the other surgical specialties, not reaching 1% in total. Major oncologic head and neck surgery carries higher risk of VTE. When prescribing anticoagulants after ENT-HNS surgery, one should predict and compare the risk of postoperative bleeding with the risk of VTE.