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Pre-Op VTE Prophylaxis Safe in Major Cancer Surgery

Results led Sloan Kettering to change preoperative practices

TUESDAY, Dec. 29, 2015 (HealthDay News) — Preoperative anticoagulation can safely be given to certain patients before major cancer surgery, according to a study published online Dec. 14 in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

Researchers compared 2,058 patients given preoperative anticoagulation before major cancer surgery with 4,960 who did not receive the intervention.

Rates of deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolus were significantly lower in the post-intervention group, while there was no increase in the risk of major bleeding or blood transfusion, the researchers said.

“This research has been a practice-changing study for our institution,” study coauthor Vivian Strong, M.D., an associate attending surgeon at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, said in a journal news release. “Our study results demonstrate to other institutions that you can use preoperative venous thromboembolism prophylaxis safely, so I think that it has very broad-reaching, practice-changing implications.”

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