I was delighted that you chose deep vein thrombosis (DVT) prevention to kick off your new series of recommended practices summaries and implementation guides. I would like to see more information on the need for continuous intervention throughout the hospital stay, particularly as it concerns intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) devices. I believe that we should strive to maintain continuous application of IPCs from the OR to the postanesthe-sia care unit (PACU) to the short-term postoperative location, be that the hospital or home. Although we've had access to this technology for decades, a 2010 study by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality verified that pulmonary embolism, a consequence of DVT, remains the most common preventable cause of hospital death in the United States. In many hospitals, IPCs are properly placed before induction of anesthesia but, at the end of surgery, the IPCs are discontinued for periods of minutes to hours while the patient makes his or her way through recovery and to the acute care ward.
展开▼
