A review of venous thromboembolism in COVID-19: A clinical perspective

Abstract

Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) started in Wuhan, China in December 2019 and spread to all around the world in a short period of time. Hospitalized patients with COVID-19 mostly could suffer from an abnormal coagulation activation risk with increased venous thrombosis events and a poor clinical course. The reported incidence rates of thrombotic complications in hospitalized COVID-19 patients vary between 2.6 and 85% (both in non-critically ill and critically ill patients). The risk of venous thromboembolism is not known in non-hospitalized patients with COVID-19. There are numerous studies and guidelines for administration of thromboprophylaxis for COVID-19 cases. All hospitalized COVID-19 patients should take pharmacological thromboprophylaxis if there is no contraindication. However, there is no consensus on this issue. In this review, we discussed all these approaches in a critical perspective.