2005 Volume 16 Issue 1 Pages 19-25
It has been reported that the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) in Japanese surgical population is not so low as previously thought. The clinical importance of thromboprophylaxis for pulmonary embolism (PE) has also been emphasized from the viewpoint of risk management and many different guidelines for prevention of postoperative VTE have been established in hospitals independently. Ideally, the guideline should be based on the solid evidence, but the reality in Japan is that there are quite few clinical data on VTE. From these circumstances, a comprehensive, standard guideline for prevention of VTE was recently established by applying the risk-prophylaxis relationship of the sixth American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) consensus recommendations. Since the present guidelines are not sufficiently based on the Japanese evidence, they should be reevaluated by the prospective, nationwide epidemiological study, and must be revised if necessary. In this review article, the theoretical background and future perspective of the Japanese guidelines are discussed.
