PULMONARY EMBOLISM

SUMMARY

1. Venous thromboembolic (VTE) disease is the term that includes both deep venous thromboses (DVT) and pulmonary emboli (PE).

2. Post-operative surgical risk factors are higher in orthopedic, colorectal, trauma & SCI.

3. The majority of medically significant PEs are from above knee DVTs (ileofemoral area). Most calf vein thromboses do not embolize.

4. Other sources of PE are upper extremity, internal jugular, and subclavian thrombi. Usually the source for the upper body thrombi are IV catheters, especially PICC lines.

5. PE is the 3rd most common cardiovascular cause of death (after IHD & stroke); 11% die within 1 hr of symptom onset.

6. In hospitalized patients, inadequate VTE prophylaxis is the usual cause of PEs.

Reference(s)

Wilkinson, I., Furmedge, D. and Sinharay, R. (2017). Oxford handbook of clinical medicine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Get it on Amazon.
Feather, A., Randall, D. and Waterhouse, M. (2020). Kumar And Clark’s Clinical Medicine. 10th ed. S.L.: Elsevier Health Sciences. Get it on Amazon.
Hannaman, R. A., Bullock, L., Hatchell, C. A., & Yoffe, M. (2016). Internal medicine review core curriculum, 2017-2018. CO Springs, CO: MedStudy.
Therapeutic Guidelines. Melbourne: Therapeutic Guidelines Limited. https://www.tg.org.au [Accessed 2021].