Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism and Haemostasis Monitoring in Patients with COVID-19: Updated Proposals (april 2021)

In April 2020, in response to the high thrombotic risk associated with COVID-19, the GIHP and GFHT published proposals for the prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and haemostasis monitoring in patients with COVID-19 [1]. In February 2021, six authors from the proposals (CT, AM, AlG, AnG, SS, YG, PA) decided to update them. This update was justified by several points: - The epidemiology of thrombotic complications has been described. - Different anticoagulation regimens have been reported, and retrospective studies have suggested that higher-than-standard prophylactic anticoagulation may be beneficial. - Initially underestimated, bleeding complications have emerged as a limitation of increased-dose anticoagulation and occur later than thrombotic events. - The first results of large-scale randomised controlled studies on increased doses of anticoagulation have been published. - Immunomodulatory therapies (corticosteroids, interleukin-6 receptor antagonists) are now widely used, but their effect on the thrombotic risk is unknown. - Despite improved survival, thrombotic complications remain a concern [2].