**14. Surgery and trauma**

In PIOPED, trauma of the lower extremities was a predisposing factor in 10% of patients with PE, and in PIOPED II trauma of the lower extremities or pelvis was a predisposing factor in 14%.180,181 Surgery within 3 months of the acute PE was a predisposing factor in 54% in PIOPED and in 23% in PIOPED II.180,181 The prevalence of VTE following various categories of surgery and trauma has been reviewed in detail by Geerts and colleagues182.
