In recent years, the incidence of pulmonary embolism has been on the rise and occupies an important position among the causes of sudden death occurring after surgery. As most of the surgical patients, especially the elderly patients, have hypercoagulable blood after surgery, and a considerable number of patients have varicose veins, phlebitis or thrombosis of lower limbs. Some of them are prone to pulmonary embolism due to long time of bed rest, little activity and long time of bed rest after surgery. Once blockage of the larger branches of the pulmonary artery occurs, fatal consequences can occur, and the success rate of resuscitation is low. Pulmonary embolism is a serious complication caused by the blockage of one of the pulmonary arteries by an embolus, the most common embolus being a thrombus from the deep venous system. When embolism produces severe blood supply disorders, necrosis of lung tissue can occur, which is called pulmonary infarction and is a common cause of acute lung disease. The clinical manifestations of embolism can range from asymptomatic to sudden death. The common symptoms are dyspnea and chest pain, both of which occur in more than 80% of cases. Pleural pain is caused by inflammation of the adjacent pleural fibrin and is often suggestive of pulmonary infarction when it occurs suddenly. Diaphragmatic pleural involvement may radiate to the shoulder or abdomen. If there is retrosternal pain, it is quite similar to myocardial infarction. Chronic pulmonary infarction may be associated with hemoptysis. Other symptoms are anxiety, which may be due to pain or hypoxemia. Syncope is often a sign of pulmonary infarction. Pulmonary embolism is the complication with the highest rate of postoperative morbidity and mortality; therefore, all postoperative measures to actively prevent deep vein thrombosis become effective in preventing the occurrence of postoperative pulmonary embolism.