2010 Volume 30 Issue 7 Pages 996-1001
The knowledge and practice of perioperative venous thromboprophylaxis has increased among the medical practitioners in Japan after the publication of the domestic guidelines for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in 2004; anticoagulant prophylaxis, therefore, may be considered to be the next stage in the field. Epidemiological research of perioperative symptomatic pulmonary thromboembolism conducted by researchers of the Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists revealed that anticoagulant therapy for patients with thromboprophylaxis might reduce mortality. However, some important problems regarding the perioperative use of anticoagulants, such as major bleeding after surgery, intracranial bleeding in the case of elderly patients, intestinal bleeding in the case of ulcer patients, and epidural hematoma in the case of patients under neuraxial anesthesia/analgesia, remain unsolved. Hence, it is essential to develop a protocol for the management of patients who receive perioperative administration of anticoagulants.
