The post-thrombotic syndrome Frequency, Diagnosis and Prevention

The postthrombotic syndrome is a frequent consequence of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) of the legs. Risk factors are the ipsilateral recurrent DVT, proximal localisation of initial DVT, persistent morphological changes in the deep veins, obesity and preexisting venous pathology. Important strategies in prevention and treatment of PTS are compression, exercising, body weight normalisation and effective initial anticoagulation as well as prevention of recurrent DVT.