Adherence to local guidelines for venous thromboprophylaxis: a cross-sectional study of medical inpatients in Argentina

This cross-sectional study included 310 prescriptions of medical general-ward admitted patients of two university hospitals of Buenos Aires, Argentina.Data was collected using filled-out prescriptions, medical records and interviews with the head attending physician. Information was gathered at different times during 16 days randomly selected over September 2007 and January 2008.One hundred eighty eight patients' prescriptions (60.6%) were appropriate according to the institutional guidelines. Inappropriateness was due to excessive (14.2%), insufficient (15.8%) and absent (9.4%) prescribing. According to the recommendations of the American College of Chest Physicians, 256 (82.6%) patients received appropriate prophylaxis. Twenty-nine patients (9.4%) were considered at low risk for thromboembolism and did not need pharmacologic or mechanical prophylaxis. One hundred three patients (33.2%) had at least one major risk factor for venous thromboembolism. Compliance with the institutional guidelines was more frequently in the case of high risk patients. Complex preventive measures and low risk patients were related to lower adherence to recommendations. In the multivariate analysis, predictors of inappropriateness were the requirement of a surgical procedure and absence of prophylaxis prescribing at admission. In contrast, patients with a diagnosis of gastrointestinal disorders had lower odds of inappropriateness than those with an infectious disease.Most medical inpatients received some thromboprophylaxis measure, but the compliance with recommendations was less frequent. Efforts should be made to improve the appropriate prescription.Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is considered the most common preventable cause of hospital-related death [1]. Before preventive measures for VTE were implemented, it was estimated that 10% of hospital deaths were associated with VTE [2]. Moreover, patients who survive the early event present a mortality rate of approximately 17% at 3 months [3