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Point-Of-Care Ultrasound Screening for Proximal Lower Extremity Deep Venous Thrombosis
Published on: February 10, 2023
Physician alerts to prevent venous thromboembolism
Gregory Piazza1, Samuel Z Goldhaber
1Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02115, USA. gpiazza@partners.org
Journal of Thrombosis and Thrombolysis
|November 6, 2009
Summary
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a preventable hospital complication. This review discusses strategies to improve VTE prevention during hospitalization and after discharge, addressing underutilization of prophylaxis.
Area of Science:
- Medical Science
- Public Health
Background:
- Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is a frequent, preventable complication of hospitalization.
- VTE is associated with significant mortality, morbidity, and healthcare costs, despite existing prevention guidelines.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review decision support strategies for enhancing VTE prevention in hospitalized patients.
- To address the underutilization of VTE prophylaxis and the challenges of post-discharge VTE occurrence.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing literature on VTE prevention strategies.
- Analysis of data on VTE development in both inpatient and outpatient settings.
- Discussion of decision support tools for VTE prophylaxis.
Main Results:
- VTE prophylaxis underutilization remains a global issue.
- A significant proportion of VTE cases occur post-discharge, often in patients with recent hospitalization or surgery.
- Limited data exists for extended out-of-hospital VTE prophylaxis in non-orthopedic/oncologic populations.
Conclusions:
- Improving VTE prevention requires focus beyond in-hospital care, including post-discharge strategies.
- Decision support systems can aid in optimizing VTE prophylaxis during hospitalization and at discharge.
- Further research is needed on extended VTE prophylaxis for diverse patient groups.
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