Venous thromboembolism and antithrombotic therapy in pregnancy

To present an approach, based on current evidence, for the diagnosis, treatment, and thromboprophylaxis of venous thromboembolism in pregnancy and postpartum.

Published literature was retrieved through searches of PubMed, Medline, CINAHL, and The Cochrane Library from November 2011 to July 2013 using appropriate controlled vocabulary (e.g. pregnancy, venous thromboembolism, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, pulmonary thrombosis) and key words (e.g., maternal morbidity, pregnancy complications, thromboprophylaxis, antithrombotic therapy). Results were restricted to systematic reviews, randomized control trials/controlled clinical trials, and observational studies published in English or French. There were no date restrictions. Grey (unpublished) literature was identified through searching the websites of clinical practice guideline collections, clinical trial registries, and national and international medical specialty societies.

The quality of evidence in this document was rated using the criteria described in the Report of the Canadian Task Force on Preventative Health Care (Table 1).