Benefit of intermittent pneumatic compression of lower limbs in reducing venous thromboembolism in hospitalised patients: Interactions between risk and effectiveness

摘要

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is an important, preventable cause of morbidity and mortality in hospitalised patients. Our recent analysis of the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Centre for Outcomes and Resource Evaluation showed that acute pulmonary embolism accounted for 0.9% of all emergency intensive care admissions and over 20% of these patients required mechanical ventilation, 4.2% had a cardiac arrest prior to intensive care admission and the associated mortality was high (14.8%). Furthermore, omission of early mechanical or pharmacological thromboprophylaxis in critically ill patients was associated with an increased risk of both crude and adjusted mortality, particularly substantial in patients who had severe critical illness.