Do Patients at Risk for VTE Receive Guideline-Adherent Prophylaxis?

Despite evidence collected during the past 15 years about the benefits of VTE prophylaxis, surgical and medical patients who are at risk for VTE remain unprotected.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major public health issue that can be largely prevented if at-risk patients receive appropriate prophylaxis. In the observational, cross-sectional, industry-sponsored ENDORSE study, researchers evaluated the proportion of patients at risk for VTE who actually received appropriate prophylaxis in accordance with the 2004 American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) guidelines (Chest 2004; 126:suppl 3:338S). Investigators in 32 countries on six continents performed chart audits of 37,356 medical and 30,827 surgical patients. All patients were assessed for VTE risk and for contraindications to pharmacologic prophylaxis.

Among medical patients, 15,487 (42%) were at risk for VTE, but only 6119 (40% of at-risk patie…

Reviewing Author

Sylvia C.W. McKean, MD, FACP