Conference Coverage
Despite VTE prophylaxis, more bleeds, no benefit in medical inpatients
Major finding: As VTE prophylaxis climbed from 59.2% to 77.9% over 2-plus years, the rate of symptomatic VTEs held steady at 0.56%, but major...
LAS VEGAS – Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis – a sine qua non of the Joint Commission and others – doesn’t seem to prevent deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism in hospitalized medical patients, but it does make them more likely to bleed, according to investigators from the Michigan Hospital Medicine Safety Consortium.
The findings are prompting one of those investigators to reassess his own approach. In an interview at the Society of Hospital Medicine’s 2014 meeting, Dr. Scott Kaatz, chief quality officer at Hurley Medical Center in Flint, Mich., told us how he’s thinking a bit differently these days when it comes to VTE prophylaxis in medical inpatients.