Why is there an urgent need to make DVT a major health priority?
The following facts and statistics are taken from the website of the Coalition to Prevent Deep-Vein Thrombosis. • According to the American Heart Association, DVT occurs in about 2 million Americans every year. • More people suffer from DVT annually than heart attack and stroke. • Up to 600,000 patients are hospitalized each year for DVT. • Pulmonary embolism causes more deaths annually in the United States than breast cancer, AIDS and highway fatalities (combined). • Fatal PE may be the most common preventable cause of hospital death in the United States. • Only one-third of hospitalized patients with risk factors for blood clots received preventive treatment, according to a U.S. multicenter study. • Without preventive treatment, up to 60 percent of patients who undergo total hip replacement surgery may develop DVT. • Cancer patients undergoing surgical procedures have at least twice the risk of postoperative DVT and more than three times the risk of fatal PE than non-cancer patients
