Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis in Medical and Surgical Patients - What's Our Reality?

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) includes pulmonary embolism (PE), deep vein thrombosis (DVT) in lower limbs, and thrombosis in rare locations. VTE is a common cardiovascular disease, being the leading preventable cause of in-hospital death. Both surgical and acute medical patients have an elevated risk of developing VTE. VTE risk assessment is essential to identify patients who might benefit from VTE prophylaxis accurately. Clinical data on risk factors and prophylaxis in Portugal are scarce. We aimed to determine the proportion of at-risk patients who received prophylaxis and the incidence of bleeding events. We also intended to study the rate of VTE in a cohort of medical and surgical patients during the hospitalization period and three months after discharge.

During one week in 2020, adults admitted for more than 72hr to a medical or surgical ward were included. The study excluded patients with a diagnosis of VTE three months before hospitalization and who were either chronically receiving anticoagulation therapy or had started it 48 hours after admission. Risk assessments were based on the Padua Prediction Score (PPS) for medical patients and the Caprini Risk Assessment Model (CRAM) for surgical patients. We used CHEST guidelines, 9th edition, to determine the adequacy of the prophylactic method.

A total of 123 patients were analyzed, 18.7% of which tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. VTE risk in surgical patients was categorized as very low or low (16.6%), moderate (37.5%), and high (43.8%), according to the CRAM. Risk in medical patients was categorized as low (60.0%) or high (40.0%) according to the PPS. We estimated that VTE chemoprophylaxis was overused in about 30.0% of patients vs. 7.0% who were at risk and did not receive appropriate chemoprophylaxis. The rate of thromboembolic events was 4.1% (n=5), 2 of which happened after discharge. Two of these patients were under VTE prophylaxis during hospitalization. Major bleeding occurred in 2.4% of patients (n=3).

A significant number of hospitalized patients are deemed to be at risk for VTE, making appropriate prophylaxis essential. The results emphasize the insufficient management of VTE prophylaxis.