Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in pregnancy: Are we adequately identifying and managing risks?

Pregnancy is a well-known risk factor of venous thromboembolism. We retrospectively reviewed case histories of 82 pregnant women who developed symptoms of venous pathology, thrombophlebitis, deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolus (PE) while receiving care at our hospital. We found the VTE risk identification and documentation during their pregnancies were deficient resulting in the omission of appropriate thromboprophylaxis. Many confirmed VTE cases (antenatally or postpartum) were not on thromboprophylaxis prior to diagnosis despite having multiple risk factors. We recommend the use of a risk assessment tool by clinicians for accurate risk identification ensuring proper risk management at different stages of pregnancy.