Venous thromboembolism in stroke: literature review and implications for clinical practice.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is an important cause of morbidity and death in patients who have survived a recent stroke. Most events occur early, but the risk of VTE persists into the postacute recovery phase. Depending on the severity of the stroke, the incidence of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in patients without prophylaxis is 23% to 75%, and the incidence of pulmonary embolism (PE) is 10% to 20% with mortality of up to 10%. It has been conclusively shown that many of these events are preventable through early and continued DVT prophylaxis. It is the purpose of this review to summarize the epidemiologic data regarding VTE in stroke, and to evaluate the efficacy of the various methods in use for VTE prophylaxis and treatment. No studies were found reporting VTE in children. This review, and practice recommendations, refer to VTE in adults with stroke.