Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis on flight

Abstract

Civil aviation has seen a steady increase in the number of scheduled flights over the last ten years and, as a resulmore passengers are traveling by air. This has been associated with an increase in flight-related diseases, especially olong-haul flights. One of the most feared complications during flights is venous thromboembolism (VTE), but its truincidence is difficult to measure because of a lack of consensus on elements such as the definition of how long aftelanding a VTE can be considered to be related to a flight and even how long a flight must last to be considered olong duration. There has been much discussion of the pathophysiological mechanisms of flight-related VTE, of whicpassengers are at greatest risk, and of what prophylactic measures can be adopted safely and effectively. The purposof this review is to clarify these points and describe current consensual conduct.