Why the study?
Venous thromboembolism is a major preventable condition in hospitalized patients globally, but the effectiveness and clinical significance of risk-screening protocols needed evaluation.
Does venous thromboembolism risk screening reduce VTE rates and mortality in hospitalized patients?
Does venous thromboembolism risk screening reduce VTE rates and mortality in hospitalized patients?
Implementation of formal VTE risk screening protocols in hospitalized patients is associated with reduced VTE events, shorter hospital stays, and lower mortality.
Supports routine VTE risk screening in hospitalized patients; reinforces guidelines by linking formal assessment to fewer events and deaths.
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a major preventable condition in hospitalized patients globally. This systematic review evaluates the effectiveness and clinical significance of venous thromboembolism (VTE) risk-screening protocols in preventing VTE events among hospitalized patients. Databases, including PubMed, Embase and Cochrane, were searched without date limits for studies comparing outcomes between hospitalized patients who did and did not receive VTE risk screening using standard tools. Twelve studies, enrolling over 139,420 patients, were included. Study quality was assessed using the ROBVIS tool. The results were summarized narratively. The findings show significant benefits of using VTE risk screening versus usual care across various outcomes. Using recommended tools, like Caprini, Padua and IMPROVE, allowed for the accurate identification of high-risk patients who benefited most from prevention. Formal screening was linked to much lower VTE rates, shorter hospital stays, fewer deaths and better use of preventive strategies matched to estimated clot risk. This review calls for the widespread adoption of VTE risk screening as an important safety step for at-risk hospital patients. More high-quality comparative research is needed to validate screening tools in different settings and populations. In summary, VTE risk screening is essential for healthcare systems to reduce life-threatening VTE events and improve patient outcomes through properly targeted preventive methods.
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Ebtisam Bakhsh (2023) studied this question.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: