Venous Thromboembolism in Plastic Surgery Patients

After studying this article, the participant will have: 1. An improved understanding of deep venous thrombosis/pulmonary embolism in the plastic surgery population, including baseline risk levels, procedure-specific risk, and opportunities to decrease but not eliminate venous thromboembolism risk. 2. The ability to use principles of risk identification, risk modification, and risk reduction to evaluate and manage perioperative venous thromboembolism risk in plastic surgery patients.

This Continuing Medical Education article provides a comprehensive review of venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolus, in plastic surgery patients. The 2005 Caprini score, a validated and useful clinical tool, can often predict percentage-based VTE risk, and can always be used as a jumping off point for consideration of patient-centric VTE risk. VTE risk can be considered using the paradigm of risk identification, risk modification, and risk reduction during the preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative time points. A thoughtful approach to VTE can decrease, but never eliminate, risk in the plastic surgery population.