The present study was designed to estimate the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) and was carried out at 59 surgical hospitals. The relevant preventive treatment was prescribed to 53,596 patients of whom 10,273 (19%) were referred to the group with the low risk of development of VTE, 17,091 (32%) to the moderate-risk group, and 25,371 (47%) to the high-risk group. 861 (2%) patients failed to be referred to a definite risk group. The expert evaluation revealed 31% of the cases in which the risk group did correspond to the characteristics contained in the clinical records. The surgeons underestimated the risk of VTE more frequently (25% of the cases) than overestimated it (only 6%). The majority of the patients included in the study were prescribed the treatment aimed at preventing the development of VTE. 80.2% of the patients underwent early activization in the post-operative period, 71.4% were treated using elastic compression of the lower extremities, and 68.7% received medicamental preventive therapy. Practically all the patients of the high-risk group (82%) were prescribed anticoagulants. The overall mortality rate was estimated at 0.39%. Pulmonary embolism (PE) was a cause of the fatal outcome in 0.03% of the patients. It is concluded that the purpose-oriented measures to prevent the development of VTE in the surgical departments can significantly reduce the frequency of lethal pulmonary artery thromboembolism even among the patients belonging to the highest-risk groups.