TY - JOUR
T1 - Clinical assessment of venous thromboembolic risk in surgical patients
AU - Caprini, J. A.
AU - Arcelus, J. I.
AU - Hasty, J. H.
AU - Tamhane, A. C.
AU - Fabrega, F.
PY - 1991
Y1 - 1991
N2 - Prophylaxis against postoperative venous thromboembolism should be tailored according to the patient's level of risk. However, risk assessment is not yet in widespread use in surgical practice. In this study, 538 general surgical patients were prospectively assessed based on a scoring system containing 20 risk factors. Depending on the total risk factor score, the patients were grouped into low (0 to 1, 34.5%), moderate (2 to 4, 48.5%), or high risk (more than 4, 17.2%) categories. Statistically significant (p < 0.0001) correlation was found between our results and those of three existing risk assessment systems. Overall, of the 538 patients, 37.2% received prophylaxis; 10%, 42.1%, and 76% received prophylaxis in the low-, moderate-, and high-risk categories, respectively. Mechanical prophylactic modalities (graduated elastic compression and sequential intermittent compression) were preferred over pharmacologic modalities. These results suggest that implementation of prophylaxis remains underutilized despite published reports, includingf NIH guidelines. Our results indicate that the majority of surgical patients seen in this suburban hospital have two or more risk factors for developing venous thromboembolism.
AB - Prophylaxis against postoperative venous thromboembolism should be tailored according to the patient's level of risk. However, risk assessment is not yet in widespread use in surgical practice. In this study, 538 general surgical patients were prospectively assessed based on a scoring system containing 20 risk factors. Depending on the total risk factor score, the patients were grouped into low (0 to 1, 34.5%), moderate (2 to 4, 48.5%), or high risk (more than 4, 17.2%) categories. Statistically significant (p < 0.0001) correlation was found between our results and those of three existing risk assessment systems. Overall, of the 538 patients, 37.2% received prophylaxis; 10%, 42.1%, and 76% received prophylaxis in the low-, moderate-, and high-risk categories, respectively. Mechanical prophylactic modalities (graduated elastic compression and sequential intermittent compression) were preferred over pharmacologic modalities. These results suggest that implementation of prophylaxis remains underutilized despite published reports, includingf NIH guidelines. Our results indicate that the majority of surgical patients seen in this suburban hospital have two or more risk factors for developing venous thromboembolism.
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M3 - Article
C2 - 1754886
AN - SCOPUS:0026004553
SN - 0094-6176
VL - 17
SP - 304
EP - 312
JO - Seminars in thrombosis and hemostasis
JF - Seminars in thrombosis and hemostasis
IS - SUPPL. 3
ER -