Oral contraceptives and venous thromboses in adolescents undergoing elective surgery: a case report, and review of the literature.

Oral contraceptive (OC) use is a risk factor for the development of deep venous thromboses (DVT) in adolescents, particularly for those patients undergoing surgery. Adolescents have received little attention in the literature on this subject. We describe a 17-year-old female who developed a DVT while receiving OCs at the time of elective surgery. We recommend that adolescent females undergoing elective surgery discontinue OCs at least 1 month before and after the surgery and attendant immobilization.