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Women's health
Cohort study
Overweight and obese middle-aged women have increased risk of venous thromboembolism, particularly following surgery
  1. Simon McRae
  1. Department of Haematology, SA Pathology, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
  1. Correspondence to: Dr Simon McRae
    Department of Haematology, Royal Adelaide Hospital, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5156, Australia; simon.mcrae{at}health.sa.gov.au

https://doi.org/10.1136/eb-2012-100841

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    Commentary on Parkin L, Sweetland S, Balkwill A, et al. for the Million Women Study Collaborators. Body mass index, surgery and risk of venous thromboembolism in middle-aged women: a cohort study. Circulation 2012; 125:1897–904.OpenUrlAbstract/FREE Full Text

    Implications for practice and research

    • Obesity is associated with an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) including both spontaneous and postoperative events.

    • Further research is needed regarding factors responsible for the increase in postoperative VTE in overweight patients, and whether management should be altered (eg, increased focus on postoperative mobilisation, altered doses of prophylactic anticoagulants, lower threshold for starting prophylactic anticoagulation for minor surgical procedures).

    • Weight loss prior to surgery may reduce risk of venous thrombosis.

    Context

    About 0.1% of individuals develop VTE each year.1 Previous case–control studies, suggest that being overweight (body mass index (BMI) >25–29.9 kg/m2) or obese (BMI>30 kg/m2) results in an approximate twofold increase …

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    Footnotes

    • Competing interests None.