Tromboembolismo en pacientes oncológicos

Abstract

Introduction: Patients with active cancer are at increased risk of developing venous thromboembolism, which can lead to significant morbidity, mortality, and health care costs. Prophylaxis reduces the risk of venous thromboembolism, but is not feasible for all ambulatory cancer patients because of the increased risk of bleeding. Objective: To describe the pathophysiological mechanisms, clinical manifestations, diagnostic methods, risk scales and management of thromboembolism in cancer patients. Methodology: a systematic review of indexed medical literature was carried out, taking into account 36 articles that met the inclusion and exclusion criteria, using the descriptors in health sciences and medical platforms with high impact research. Conclusion: The Khorana score (range 0 to 6, where higher scores indicate a higher risk of venous thromboembolism) has been validated to identify cancer patients at high risk of this complication and may help to select patients who would benefit from thromboprophylaxis with low molecular weight heparins according to scientific evidence for a period of 3 to 6 months.