The risk of postoperative venous thromboembolism (VTE) depends on the extent of surgery, duration of surgery, intraoperative positioning, type of anesthesia, postoperative mobility, as well as other patient factors, including inherited thrombophilia, malignancy, trauma, pregnancy, and various medications. The clinical presentation of pulmonary embolism (PE) ranges from asymptomatic to massive and fatal. One must suspect PE in a patient with dyspnea, chest pain, presyncope/syncope, or hemoptysis. Clinical signs include tachycardia, tachypnea, rales, decreased breath sounds, and jugular venous distention. In any patient with the above findings, do not forget to perform a succinct history and physical examination, and a quick personal and family history of inherited coagulation disorders. The gold standard for diagnosing a PE is a CT pulmonary angiogram. Treatment begins with resuscitation, and the mainstay of therapy is anticoagulation. Understand the indications for placement of an inferior vena cava filter, including recurrent VTE despite anticoagulation, deep venous thrombosis (DVT) in a patient with contraindications to anticoagulation, chronic PE and resultant pulmonary hypertension, complications of anticoagulation, propagating iliofemoral venous thrombus in patients on anticoagulation.