Wells DVT and Caprini VTE Risk
Score two complementary venous-thromboembolism tools side by side.
Open the calculator → Runs in your browser. Data leaves only if you deliberately send a problem report from the interactive tool.
Example
- Wells: localized tenderness along deep veins
- Yes
- Wells: entire leg swollen
- Yes
- Wells: calf swelling > 3 cm
- Yes
- Caprini total points
- 5
Result: Wells DVT 3 (High); Caprini 5 (high VTE risk).
The tool opens with these values already filled in. Replace them with your own.
What the result means
- Wells DVT <=0
- Low pretest probability of DVT (about 5%); a D-dimer can exclude DVT per source.
- Wells DVT 1-2
- Moderate pretest probability of DVT (about 17%).
- Wells DVT >=3
- High pretest probability of DVT (about 53%); ultrasound per source.
What you enter
- Wells: active cancer (1)
- Wells: paralysis or recent leg immobilization (1)
- Wells: bedridden > 3 days or surgery < 12 weeks (1)
- Wells: localized tenderness along deep veins (1)
- Wells: entire leg swollen (1)
- Wells: calf swelling > 3 cm (1)
- Wells: pitting edema in symptomatic leg (1)
- Wells: collateral superficial veins (1)
The other 3 fields
- Wells: previously documented DVT (1)
- Wells: alternative diagnosis as likely or more likely (-2)
- Caprini total points (summed weighted items)
What this is
Wells DVT is a 9-item pretest probability score for an acutely symptomatic leg (active cancer, paralysis or recent cast, recent bed rest or major surgery, localized tenderness, leg swelling, calf-circumference difference, pitting edema, collateral veins, alternative diagnosis at least as likely) that stratifies a patient as DVT likely or unlikely. Caprini is a longer inpatient/perioperative risk-assessment model that totals risk factors to predict 30-day VTE risk and guide prophylaxis intensity. Sophie Well computes both from a single inputs panel.
When to use it
Use Wells DVT in the ED or clinic when an acutely symptomatic leg raises concern for deep vein thrombosis - the score gates whether a D-dimer can rule out the diagnosis or whether ultrasound is needed up front. Use Caprini on admission or before a surgical procedure to choose between mechanical, chemical, or combined prophylaxis. The two scores answer different questions on different timelines; running them together is most useful when an admitted surgical patient develops new leg symptoms and you need both the acute workup and the next prophylaxis decision in one place.
How this is calculated
Wells PS, et al. Lancet. 1997;350(9094):1795-1798 (Wells DVT). Caprini JA. Dis Mon. 2005;51(2-3):70-78. Read the sources: Wells 1997 ↗, Caprini 2005 ↗
A reference and educational tool. Not medical, legal, or financial advice, and not a substitute for clinician judgment.
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