How can VTE be prevented?

The risks of VTE can be reduced in the following ways:

• Compression stockings: These stockings compress our lower limbs preventing blood pooling in the deep veins helping to maintain normal blood flow.
• Leg and foot exercises: Your physiotherapist will give you an exercise programme to follow after your operation. Exercising your feet and leg muscles helps to maintain normal blood flow in the deep veins.
• Drinking plenty of fluids: Keeping well hydrated can help to reduce the risks of blood clots.
• Intermittent Pneumatic Compression (IPC) machines: This method is only used for some patients while they are in hospital. If mobility is severely limited these machines can be used to squeeze the leg muscles (by inflating and deflating) to maintain normal blood flow.

Anticoagulants are medicines that work by altering the time it takes your blood to clot and the way in which it clots, making a clot formation less likely. Some anticoagulants are injectable, others are available as tablets or capsules.

Your doctor may have chosen one or more of these preventative measures to help reduce your risk of a VTE.