Background: Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) is an umbrella term which covers Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and Pulmonary embolism (PE). VTE is an issue which is responsible for more deaths than breast ca, road accidents and AIDS combined and each case costs >AUD 10,000 and the costs in NZ are likely to be similar. VTE is preventable in a large number of hospitalised patients. Thromboprophylaxis reduces the risk of DVT/PE by >60% across a broad spectrum of patients, with a very low risk of adverse events.
The prevalence of complications of DVT such as swelling, pain, discolouration and scaling of the affected limb has been discussed as high as 50% and up to 33% of people will have a recurrence of DVT within 10 years.

Aims: The aim of this study is to assess whether there are any clinical indicators that can assist the health professional reduce the chance of complications for people diagnosed with DVT.

Methods: A group of approximately 500 people diagnosed with DVT from 2013 – 2018 in Palmerston North NZ were reviewed to ascertain the incidence of Post thrombotic syndrome (PTS), PE, chronic venous insufficiency and recurrence. This review was undertaken utilising the Clinical Portal (electronic notes system) and clinical notes.
The Villalta Scale was used to grade the severity of PTS and the Vienna Prediction Model was utilised to predict rate of recurrence prior to discontinuing anticoagulation therapy.

Results: Pending.

Conclusions: The results of this study (which is still being evaluated) will determine the incidence of recurrence, whether the risk of recurrence and PTS is different in people with proximal or distal DVT. The number of people left on lifelong anticoagulation for prevention of recurrence will also be discussed.

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ISTH Congress Abstracts - https://abstracts.isth.org/abstract/vte-and-its-complications-a-real-world-view-daryl-pollock-rn-mn-cns-thrombosis-haemostasis/