Purpose

Subcutaneous enoxaparin is currently the gold standard for VTE chemoprophylaxis. However, the efficacy of chemoprophylaxis with subcutaneous enoxaparin is affected by patient-level factors, thus, resulting in VTE events despite guideline-compliant prophylaxis. A population at particular risk is the growing number of patients who undergo autologous breast reconstruction. Direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) might be a less invasive, yet, more efficacious mode of chemoprophylaxis in this patient population. Hence, the proposed work has the potential to cause a paradigm shift in chemoprophylaxis guidelines in a large population of patients undergoing plastic surgery.