BACKGROUND: Although this work belongs to the area of vascular surgery, it is relevant to all clinical and surgical specialties due to the clinical importance of deep venous thrombosis and its main complication, pulmonary embolism. OBJECTIVES: To verify whether pharmacological prophylaxis of deep venous thrombosis is being adequately and routinely used in our service and to evaluate physicians' knowledge about the indications of deep venous thrombosis chemoprophylaxis. METHODS: A prospective study was accomplished including 850 patients hospitalized from March to May 2007 at Hospital Geral de Roraima. Clinical, pharmacological and surgical factors were researched. Risk stratification and evaluation of prophylaxis were established according to the classification suggested by the Brazilian Society of Angiology and Vascular Surgery and to the protocol developed by Caiafa in 2002. Physicians answered a questionnaire and analyzed three hypothetical clinical cases. Data were tabled and statistically analyzed with the support of the software Epi-Info 2002®. RESULTS: Of the 850 patients surveyed, 557 (66.66%) were clinical and 293 (33.34%) were surgical patients. Of the total, 353 (41.56%) had low risk, 411 (48.32%) medium risk and 86 (10.12%) high risk for development of deep venous thrombosis. Of the 497 patients that needed to receive chemoprophylaxis for deep venous thrombosis, only 120 (24%) received it and of these, 102 (85%) received it adequately. Any patient who did not need prophylaxis received it. Clinical physicians prescribed prophylaxis more frequently and correctly than surgeons, although the latter have demonstrated better theoretical knowledge of the theme. In general, theoretical knowledge on deep venous thrombosis was insufficient. CONCLUSIONS: In our hospital, chemoprophylaxis for deep venous thrombosis is underused in patients indicated for receiving it. Therefore, it is necessary to implement a continuous education program about this theme.
Thromboembolism; deep venous thrombosis; risk factors; prophylaxis
