Is it acceptable to monitor medical inpatients closely and perform screening ultrasounds when symptoms of DVT appear, instead of providing prospective prophylaxis?
Unfortunately, it is not. In a prospective contemporary assessment of DVT, the DVT-FREE Registry confirmed that many patients with ultrasound-documented DVT do not have typical symptoms or at least those symptoms do not indicate DVT. Furthermore, routine ultrasound is time-consuming, expensive, and notoriously insensitive in the two areas of high concern in medical inpatients: asymptomatic patients and those with calf-only DVT. Patients at risk of developing VTE in the hospital should be prophylaxed; screening patients is expensive and not clinically rewarding. Reference: 1.Kucher N, et al. Risk factors associated with symptomatic pulmonary embolism in a large cohort of deep vein thrombosis patients. Thromb Haemost. 2005;93(3):494-498.
Related Questions
- Is it acceptable to monitor medical inpatients closely and perform screening ultrasounds when symptoms of DVT appear, instead of providing prospective prophylaxis?
- Is it within the scope of practice of a RN to perform a medical screening examination (EMTALA/DOT)?
- Can an Advanced Practice Nurse Perform A Medical Screening Exam?
