Venous thromboembolism in elective operations: balancing the choices.

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a recognized cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients and is reported to account for 250,000 deaths annually. Recent shifts in prophylaxis administration are occurring among surgical specialty groups after observing a lower rate of VTE among patients undergoing elective operation. We report the incidence of VTE from 3 sources to provide an estimate of the true risk of the complication in elective surgery.