Thromboprophylaxis for adults in hospital

doi:10.1136/bmj.39210.496505.BE

BMJ 2007;334:1017-1018 (19 May), doi:10.1136/bmj.39210.496505.BE

Editorials

Thromboprophylaxis for adults in hospital

An intervention that would save many lives is still not beingimplemented

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

The evidence that pharmacological thromboprophylaxis can reducethe rate of venous thromboembolism by 60-65% is compelling.¹² ³ Last month the United Kingdom's National Institute for Healthand Clinical Excellence (NICE) published guidelines on venousthromboembolism in patients having surgical procedures,⁴ whichare summarised in this week's BMJ.⁵ The risks to surgical patients,particularly those undergoing orthopaedic procedures, are wellknown, but most people who develop venous thromboembolism inhospital are medical patients.

The prevention of venous thromboembolism in adult patients inhospital was the main challenge to patient safety in 2001, accordingto a technical assessment by the Agency for Healthcare Researchand Quality in the United States.⁶ In 2005, the UK government'sHealth Select Committee reported that venous thromboembolismcaused more than 25 000 potentially preventable deaths a year,and probably half of these deaths resulted from admission tohospital.⁷

Despite all this evidence, mortality due to venous thromboembolism. . . [Full text of this article]

David A Fitzmaurice, professor of primary care, Ellen Murray, research fellow

Department of Primary Care and General Practice, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT

d.a.fitzmaurice@bham.ac.uk

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This article has been cited by other articles:

Cayley, W. E Jr (2007). Preventing deep vein thrombosis in hospital inpatients. BMJ 335: 147-151 [Full text]
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Board, T. N, Porter, M. L (2007). Concern over guidelines. BMJ 334: 1127-1127 [Full text]
Harding, L. V, Dang, C., Young, R. (2007). Improving use. BMJ 334: 1128-1128 [Full text]

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