Prevention of venous thromboembolism in the cancer surgical patient.

Venous thromboembolism is a common complication in patients with malignant disease. One of the environments in which patients can present with symptomatic thromboembolic disease is in the postoperative period. Operation in the patient with cancer increases the risk of thromboembolic complications some two to three fold. A variety of methods have been evaluated for the prevention of thromboembolic disease in cancer surgical patients. The most extensively investigated are the pharmacologic methods, including low-dose unfractionated heparin and low molecular weight heparin. These agents are recommended for the prevention of thromboembolic disease during hospital stay. For selected high-risk populations, extended thromboprophylaxis into the postdischarge period is also recommended.