A prospective study from a Norwegian hospital tested a simple diagnostic strategy to rule out deep vein thrombosis (DVT), consisting of an initial D-dimer test and subsequent ultrasound examination only in patients with a positive result[1]. 1,397 patients with suspected DVT were included in the study, of whom 29.7% had negative D-dimer and 70.3% positive D-dimer[1]. DVT was diagnosed in 277 patients (19.8%)[1]. During a three-month follow-up, only 6 patients in whom DVT was ruled out at baseline were later diagnosed with DVT, representing a thromboembolic complication rate of 0.5%[1]. This strategy has been shown to be a safe alternative to the traditional DVT diagnostic procedure in outpatients and could save patients from unnecessary further imaging[1].