Venous thromboembolism (VTE), which includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) is a severe condition which causes significant morbidity and mortality in hospitalised patients as well as in the community. In population-based studies from the 1990s in the United States the incidence of VTE was estimated to be between 1 and 2 per 1000 [1–3].The incidence rate rose exponentially with age such that the risk was at least 10 times greater in the >80 age group compared to the
