Patients admitted to the hospital are at high risk for developing venous thrombosis when compared with the general population (1,2). Prophylaxis with unfractionated heparin or low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) decreases the risk of development of venous thrombosis in hospitalized medical patients (3). Current guidelines recommend venous thrombosis prophylaxis for hospitalized medical patients who will be confined to a bed (4). Hospitalized patients with cirrhosis are also known to be at risk to develop deep venous thrombosis (5-9). They are often rendered immobile because of complications like encephalopathy, ascites, oedema or muscle wasting. As it is well established that prophylaxis decreases the risk of venous thrombosis in hospitalized patients, it is currently unclear if a similar benefit would extend to patients with cirrhosis. The article in this issue of Liver International by Bechmann et al. (10) provides one of the first studies to specifically examine the effects of venous thrombosis prophylaxis in this unique population.
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