Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis in Medical Intensive Care Unit: An Audit

Introduction: Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in patients admitted to healthcare facilities. This can be prevented by giving thromboprophylaxis to patients after assessing the risk for VTE. This however is not being routinely done leading to underuse of thromboprophylaxis due to inadequate practice of risk assessment. Aim: To conduct an audit of VTE prophylaxis in Intensive Care Unit (ICU) based on Padua score and International Medical Prevention Registry on Venous Thromboembolism (IMPROVE) Risk Assessment Model (VTE RAM). Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional observational study and the data was collected from medical records of patients retrospectively who were admitted to medical ICU between October 2019 and December 2019. Based on medical records risk assessment was done using the Padua score and IMPROVE VTE RAM. The prophylaxis given to patients was scrutinised for appropriateness based on American Society of Haematology (ASH) guidelines. The two validated scores Padua score and IMPROVE VTE RAM were compared with each other for any significant difference in the risk assessment made using Chi-square test and p-value <0.05 were considered significant. Results: Out of the 176 patients risk assessment was not done in any patient. On calculating the Padua score, 149 patients (84.66%) were in high risk for VTE (Padua Score >= 4) and amongst them only 76 (51%) patients received thromboprophylaxis. On calculating the IMPROVE VTE RAM score, 137 patients (77.84%) were in moderate or high risk for VTE requiring prophylaxis and amongst them only 76 (55.47%) patients received thromboprophylaxis. The accuracy of clinician's judgement without risk assessment was 58.52% (95% CI: 65.80%-51.24%) and 64.20% (95% CI: 71.28%-57.12%) as compared to risk assessment by Padua score and IMPROVE VTE RAM, respectively. There was no significant difference between IMPROVE VTE RAM and Padua score with respect to risk assessment for VTE (p-value of 0.10). Conclusion: The practice of VTE prophylaxis is grossly inadequate and there is a requirement to sensitise the healthcare providers about the importance of risk assessment for VTE.