Pharmacological anticoagulation and mechanical compression versus mechanical compression alone for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis for post-operative neurosurgical patients

To assess the effects of post-operative pharmacological anticoagulation for VTE prophylaxis in patients undergoing neurosurgical procedures. Specifically, to:

  • determine if the addition of pharmacological anticoagulants to standard mechanical prophylaxis reduces the incidence of VTE;
  • determine if the addition of pharmacological anticoagulants to standard mechanical prophylaxis is associated with an increase in the rate of symptomatic central nervous system hemorrhage;
  • determine if this intervention has an effect on patient mortality, and if so, what is the magnitude of that effect?

This is a protocol.