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Some surgical patients (e.g., patients with active cancer or with Caprini score ≥9) bear a uniquely high risk for postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE). Whether these very high–risk patients could benefit from adding intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) to pharmacologic prophylaxis postoperatively is unknown.
Russian investigators used a quasi-randomization protocol (allocation by even vs. odd medical record number) to assign 407 adults who required major surgery (mostly abdominal) and who were at high risk for postoperative VTE (Caprini score, ≥9) to either the intervention group (i.e., IPC plus standard VTE prophylaxis with low-molecular-weight heparin [LMWH]) plus above-knee elastic compression stockings) or the control group (i.…