Postoperative Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis by General Surgeons in a Developing Country : A Survey

Abstract EN

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the most common preventable cause of hospital death.

Several audits in the west have demonstrated that appropriate thromboprophylaxis is not being offered to a large number of surgical patients.

Similar audits are lacking in the Indian population, and a perception exists among Indian surgeons that Indian patients are not susceptible to VTE.

Hence we undertook a survey to analyze the existing knowledge and practice of VTE prophylaxis amongst general surgeons in India.

A questionnaire-based survey was conducted on 100 active general surgeons.

We found that 97% of surgeons had encountered VTE in their practice, and 49% had encountered mortality from pulmonary embolism.

64% of surgeons do not routinely score patients preoperatively for their VTE risk, and only 33% reported the presence of an institute-based protocol for the same.

There was a wide disparity in the prophylaxis methods used for each risk group, particularly in the moderate-risk group.

These findings suggest the need for adoption of institute-based protocols for prophylaxis and the evolution of Indian guidelines for VTE prophylaxis.