American journal of surgery
-
Multicenter Study
Determining the impact of culture on venous thromboembolism prevention in trauma patients: A Southwestern Surgical Congress Multicenter trial.
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) remains one of the principal causes of morbidity and death in trauma patients that survive the first 24 h. Recent literature on VTE prevention focuses on choice of chemoprophylaxis, specifically unfractionated heparin (UFH) versus low molecular weight heparin (LMWH). This singular focus on a multifactorial process may be inadequate to fully understand the optimal approach to VTE prevention. We hypothesized that variations in care between trauma centers could be used to identify key components of VTE prevention associated with better outcomes. ⋯ Considerable variation in VTE chemoprophylaxis exists among trauma centers. "Best practices" in this area requires further investigation. An expectation of mobility and investment in mobility resources may serve to decrease VTE rates in trauma patients compared to a singular focus on type of chemoprophylaxis administered.