Thromboprophylaxis methods mainly include pharmacological and mechanical options, such as intermittent pneumatic compression devices (IPCDs). In a specific population (post-operative and post-traumatic patients) the risk of VTE is combined with increased risk of bleeding complication which is the side effect of the pharmacological prophylaxis. The aim of this integrative review is to assess the effectiveness and safety of IPCDs as an alternative choice to pharmacological prophylaxis in post-surgery and post-trauma patients. The electronic databases CINAHL, MEDLINE EMBASE, and Cochrane libraries were systematically searched for primary studies. We included studies that had evaluated the effectiveness and safety of the sole use of IPCD against the sole use of pharmacological prophylaxis in post-surgical and post-trauma patients. A total of 13 eligible articles were identified. Post-trauma patients were enrolled only in two studies and the remaining 11 studies were conducted on post-surgery patients. The findings suggest that IPCDs, compared with pharmacological prophylaxis, are equally effective in reducing DVT, PE and mortality rate and offered a reduced risk of bleeding. There were no consistent relations between the types of IPCDs and the clinical outcomes. This review demonstrates that there is lack of strong evidence informing the comparative effectiveness of IPCDs against pharmacological prophylaxis. Additionally, there is very limited evidence that can inform which type of IPCD is more appropriate as a thromboprophylaxis tool. Thus, until further robust research is conducted, it is difficult to conclude that IPCDs can replace pharmacological prophylaxis for post-surgery and post-trauma patients