Time frame of the decisions. Initial management (yellow box) spans the first 5 to 21 days following diagnosis of a new VTE and includes issues concerning whether the patient can be treated at home or requires admission to the hospital, use of thrombolytic therapy, whether an IVC filter needs to be placed, and initial anticoagulant therapy. Primary treatment continues anticoagulant therapy for 3 to 6 months total and represents the minimal duration of treatment for the VTE. After completion of primary treatment, the next decision concerns whether anticoagulant therapy will be discontinued or if it will be continued for secondary prevention of recurrent VTE. Typically, secondary prevention is continued indefinitely, although patients should be reevaluated on a regular basis to review the benefits and risks of continued anticoagulant therapy. Our choice of terminology reflects the distinct clinical intentions of the different phases of VTE management, linking them to important clinical decisions addressed in the guidelines, rather than using terms reflecting the relative duration of therapy.