Thromboprophylaxis after vaginal delivery: a district general hospital experience.
The Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths (RCOG 2001) recommends risk assessment and appropriate thromboprophylaxis after vaginal delivery. This study examines the risk group and the need for thromboprophylaxis after vaginal delivery in our local population and the cost implications for the same. It is a retrospective study of women who delivered in the month of November 2003. There were 307 deliveries, of these 251 (81.7%) were vaginal deliveries. Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths (CEMD) risk classification was possible for 243 women. A total of 170 women were low risk, 66 (27.16%) moderate risk and 7 (2.88%) high risk. The costs of thromboprophylaxis for the year in our unit were calculated as pound7,339.71 for unfractionated heparin (UFH) 5,000 IU twice daily and pound7,098.27 for 40 mg enoxaparin once daily. A total of 30% of our District General Hospital population were classified as moderate or high risk for thromboprophylaxis after vaginal delivery. It is less expensive to use enoxaparin compared with unfractionated heparin for thromboprophylaxis.
Potdar
N
N
Reproductive Sciences Section, University of Leicester, Leicester Royal Infirmary, Leicester, UK. np78@le.ac.uk
Jabbar
B
B
Burrell
S J
SJ
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001458:Bandages; D018890:Chemoprevention; D036861:Delivery, Obstetric; D017984:Enoxaparin / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006493:Heparin / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006767:Hospitals, District; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D011181:Postnatal Care; D011655:Pulmonary Embolism / Q000517:prevention & control; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013997:Time Factors; D006113:United Kingdom; D020246:Venous Thrombosis / Q000191:economics / Q000517:prevention & control*
D000925:Anticoagulants; D017984:Enoxaparin; D006493:Heparin