If I got paid a dollar for each time I hear the word DVT at work as a Hospitalist – boy would I be living off that passive income moolah ! Let’s quickly look how ‘THROMBUS‘ can help you recall risk / triggers of Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) that you should review in your admitted patients for risk and also patients with DVTs / Pulmonary Embolism (PEs) to help evaluate their possible provoking factors to reduce risk of recurrence or embolism & decide treatment duration.
T – Travel , Trauma
H – Hypercoagulable states & History** of past DVT
R – Renal Failure esp. Nephrotic type
O – Oral Contraceptive Pills (Only if fairly recently started), Obesity
M – Malignancy & Medications [HIT from Heparin, Steroids, Tamoxifen, etc)
B – Bedridden and Sedentary
U – Uterus – reminds you of Pregnancy !! Ulcerative colitis & Crohns
S – Surgery , Shooting drugs in Veins
** Once a DVT patient, always a risk of being a future DVT patient …so try not to get a DVT 😉
P.S. Post-surgery DVT / PEs that were not prevented with standard DVT – prophylaxis or missed on diagnosis resulting in injury or death is a common lawsuit physicians face. Writing “DVT prophylaxis ordered” on progress notes and not actually ordering it is surprisingly common – as in this unfortunate case of celebrity kid winner of Jeopardy TV show who died after colon surgery for Ulcerative colitis with a PE !
Don’t miss these fun posts! Subscribe via email 📩 | |
