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Previous research has shown that most episodes of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) occur in the outpatient setting. The risk factors for outpatient DVT and optimal prophylaxis have not been well defined. To address these issues, researchers reviewed 3 years of medical records from all 12 hospitals in a city of almost half a million people to identify episodes of DVT that were diagnosed or treated in the inpatient or outpatient setting.
Of 1897 validated cases of DVT, 73.7% presented from the outpatient setting. Among the outpatients, 29% had active cancer or cancer within the preceding 3 months. Sixty percent of outpatients had been hospitalized or had undergone major surgery during the preceding 3 months. Among those patients, two thirds of epi…