Venous thromboembolism (VTE- the deposition of thrombi in the deep veins of the lower limbs-deep vein thrombosis- and/or pulmonary embolism) has an incidence of 1.0 - 1.6 events per year per 1000 persons. While the prevention and treatment of the acute phase of VTE is well established, the secondary prevention of the disease, that is its long-term management, is not well standardized. Venous thromboembolism tends to recur regardless of the duration of treatment , with an incidence of 30% over 5-10 years. Both the duration and the quality of treatment after the acute event are not well established nor consistently applied in clinical practice. Recently, the 7th Consensus Conference on Anti-thrombotic therapy of the American College of Chest Physicians recommended that patients with unprovoked VTE receive at least 3 months of anticoagulant therapy. Afterwards the risk-benefit ratio of long-term therapy should be evaluated. Long term treatment is recommended in patients at low risk of bleeding and for whom good anticoagulant monitoring is achievable. However, the risk of recurrence is greatest in the first 6 to 12 months after the initial episode while it gradually decreases thereafter. As a result, the benefits of extending anticoagulation are offset over time by the risk of clinically important bleeding associated with anticoagulation. Moreover, vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) are currently the drugs of choice, and their require a strict laboratory monitoring, but in the near future newer oral anticoagulants not requiring monitoring will be available.