BET 2: Striking the right balance: anticoagulation and isolated distal deep vein thrombosis.
A short-cut review was carried out to establish whether treatment of isolated distal deep vein thrombosis with therapeutic anticoagulation can reduce adverse clinical outcomes. A meta-analysis from 2011 and 11 subsequent directly relevant papers were found using the reported search strategy. Of these, 7 in total presented the best evidence to answer the clinical question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these best papers are tabulated. It is concluded that patients diagnosed with isolated distal deep vein thrombosis should be individually risk assessed and treated according to their risk of thrombotic complication, bleeding with anticoagulation and personal preference.