Validation of a clinical guideline on prevention of venous thromboembolism in medical inpatients: a before‐and‐after study with systematic ultrasound examination

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Abstract
Background. Clinical practice guidelines on prevention of venous thromboembolism in medical inpatients have been implemented in various settings, although few studies have assessed their impact on venous thromboembolism events. Objective. To determine whether the implementation of a locally developed guideline is followed by changes in the rate of deep vein thrombosis. Design. A before‐and‐after study consisting in two ‘1‐day’ cross‐sectional studies. Setting. Thirteen adult medical wards in a teaching hospital in France. Subjects. All the patients hospitalized on the day of the cross‐sectional study. Intervention. A clinical guideline integrating scientific evidence and data on target medical providers’ practices was developed by a local expert panel and implemented through a multifaceted intervention. Measurements. Prevalence of deep vein thrombosis detected by systematic ultrasound examination. Results. The study included 338 patients in the preintervention sample and 340 in the postintervention sample. The prevalence of deep vein thrombosis decreased from 9.5% (95% CI, 6.6–13.1) in the preintervention sample to 3.2% (95% CI, 1.6–5.7) in the postintervention sample (P < 0.01). The decrease in the rate of thrombosis involved all deep veins of the lower limbs and remained significant after adjustment for risk factors (adjusted odds ratio = 0.47, 95% CI, 0.32–0.70). No additional cases of pulmonary embolism or deep vein thrombosis were reported either on the day of the study or in the following 2 days. Conclusions. Active implementation of a clinical practice guideline directed at medical providers (doctors, nurses and physical therapists) can be followed by a significant decrease in prevalence of deep vein thrombosis.