| Term |
Definition |
| Anticoagulants |
Drugs that suppress, delay or prevent blood clots |
| Antiplatelet agents |
Drugs that prevent blood clots by inhibiting platelet function |
| Arterial thrombosis |
An interruption of blood flow to an organ or body part due to a blood clot blocking the flow of blood |
| Body mass index (BMI) |
Body mass divided by the square of the body height, universally expressed in units of kg/m² |
| Catheters |
Medical devices (tubes) that can be inserted in the body for a broad range of functions, such as to treat diseases, to perform a surgical procedure, and to provide medicine, fluids and food |
| COVID‐19 |
An infectious disease caused by SARS‐CoV‐2 virus |
| Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) |
Coagulation or clotting of the blood in a deep vein, that is, far beneath the surface of the skin |
| Disseminated intravascular coagulopathy |
A severe condition in which blood clots form throughout the body, blocking small blood vessels and that may lead to organ failure. As clotting factors and platelets are used up, bleeding may occur, throughout the body (e.g. in the urine, in the stool, or bleeding into the skin) |
| Duplex ultrasound |
Non‐invasive evaluation of blood flow through the arteries and veins by ultrasound devices |
| Heparin (also known as unfractionated heparin (UFH)) |
A drug used to prevent blood clotting (anticoagulant, blood thinner) |
| Hypercoagulability |
An abnormality of blood coagulation that increases the risk of blood clot formation in blood vessels (thrombosis) |
| Low‐molecular‐weight heparin |
A drug used to prevent blood clotting (anticoagulant) |
| Obesity |
Amount of body fat beyond healthy conditions (BMI > 30 kg/m²) |
| Placebo |
Substance or treatment with no active effect, like a sugar pill |
| Platelet |
Colourless blood cells that help blood to clot by clumping together |
| Pulmonary embolism (PE) |
Blood clot in the lung or blood vessel leading to the lung. The clot originates in a vein (e.g. deep vein thrombosis) and travels to the lung |
| Quasi‐randomised controlled trial (quasi‐RCT) |
A study in which participants are divided by date of birth or by hospital register number, i.e. not truly randomly divided into separate groups to compare different treatments |
| Randomised controlled trial (RCT) |
A study in which participants are divided randomly into separate groups to compare different treatments |
| Respiratory failure |
An abnormality that results from inadequate gas exchange by the respiratory system |
| SARS‐CoV‐2 |
The virus (coronavirus 2) that causes COVID‐19 |
| Thrombosis |
Local coagulation of blood (clot) in a part of the circulatory system |
| Vascular |
Relating to blood vessels (arteries and veins) |
| Venous |
Relating to a vein |
| Venous thromboembolism (VTE) |
A condition that involves a blood clot that forms in a vein and may migrate to another location (e.g. the lung) |
