Perioperative antithrombotic prophylaxis as well as surgical and invasive procedures done in anticoagulated patients ("bridging") have primary importance as regards prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and reducing haemorrhagic complications. It is understandable that overwhelming majority of publications are dealing with major surgery (when usually several days hospitalization is required) while much less papers focus on one-day surgery cases. In this paper a brief survey on VTE epidemiology and prevention is carried out based on the new international and the 4th Hungarian Antithrombotic Guideline. The new protocols suggest that beside general measures a perioperative pharmaceutical antithrombotic prophylaxis is necessary if concomittant inherited and/or acquired thrombophilia is present.