Objective: Venous thromboembolic disease is a serious and often fatal complication following hospital admission. Studies show that thromboprophylactic therapy for this condition is often underutilized. The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of thromboprophylactic therapy at Landspítali - The University Hospital of Iceland in adult patients admitted to acute wards.
Methods and materials: On 2 December 2009 hospital charts of admitted patients on acute wards were reviewed and assessed for appropriate thromboprophylactic treatment according to the 2008 guidelines from The American College of Chest Physicians. The results were compared to those of other countries from the multinational Endorse study from 2008.
Results: 251 patient were included of whom 47% were considered at risk for venous thromboembolic disease. Of those 57% received appropriate thromboprophylactic treatment or 78% of surgical and 26% of medical patients.
Conclusions: Adherence to clinical guidelines for thromboprophylactic treatment at surgical wards of Landspítali - The National University Hospital of Iceland was good and well above the average compared to the results of the Endorse study. Performance on the medical wards was on the other hand below average. Our results show that application of thromoboprophylactic treatment at Landspítali could be improved and thereby enhance patient safety.