title: Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis in a general hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the use of venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis in a general hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  A cross-sectional cohort study at the Hospital Nossa Senhora da Conceição, located in the city of Porto Alegre, Brazil, involving a random sample of patients admitted between October of 2008 and February of 2009. We included patients over 18 years of age and hospitalized for more than 48 h. The exclusion criteria were anticoagulant use, pregnancy, puerperium, and a history of thromboembolic disease. The adequacy of prophylaxis was evaluated in accordance with a protocol created by the Hospital and principally based on the American College of Chest Physicians guidelines, eighth edition.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We included 262 patients. The mean age was 59.1 ± 16.6 years. The most common risk factors were immobilization (in 70.6%), infection (in 44.3%), cancer (in 27.5%), obesity (in 23.3%), and major surgery (in 14.1%). The risk of VTE was classified as high and moderate in 143 (54.6%) and 117 (44.7%) of the patients, respectively. Overall, 46.2% of the patients received adequate prophylaxis, 25% of those with > three risk factors for VTE and 18% of those with cancer, the differences between these last two groups and their counterparts (patients with < three risk factors and those without cancer) being statistically significant (p < 0.001 for both).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data reveal that nearly all patients at our hospital were at risk for VTE, and that less than half received adequate VTE prophylaxis, which is in agreement with the literature. It is surprising that inadequate prophylaxis is more common in high-risk patients.
authors.affiliation: Hospital Nossa Senhora da Conceição, Porto Alegre, Brazil. ferfuzi@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Fernanda
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Fuzinatto
authors.forename: André
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wajner
authors.forename: Fernando Starosta de
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Waldemar
authors.forename: João Luiz de Souza
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hopf
authors.forename: Juliana Ferro
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Schuh
authors.forename: Sergio Saldanha Menna
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Barreto
mesh_terms: D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006769:Hospitals, General; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000145:classification; D012307:Risk Factors; D054556:Venous Thromboembolism / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control*