[Prevention of thromboembolism in surgery--results of a survey in West German hospitals].

Unlabelled: In 1990 a questionnaire on methods for prevention of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (LE) was mailed to 940 surgical centers in West Germany (FRG). The return rate was 60% or 564 answers, covering about 1,200,000 operations/year. The results are as follows: (1) Physical therapeutic measures (early mobilisation, elastic stockings) and drug administration are routinely used in all centers. The duration of prophylaxis is 3-8 days in 36% of centers, up to mobilisation in 31%, 9-16 days after operation in 17% and until demission in 16%. (2) A single drug regime is employed in 60% of centers (49% standard heparin, 9% low molecular heparin in combination with DHE) 40% of centers use all three drugs without clear cut guidelines concerning the indications. (3) The reported rates of thromboembolic complications diagnosed by clinical criteria are 0.55 +/- 0.62% for DVT and 0.22 +/- 0.29% for fatal or nonfatal LE. There is no evidence from the analysed data that the drug regimes influences the clinical outcome.

Conclusion: The need for administration of drugs prevent DVT is widely accepted. A polypragmatic approach seems to be effective. However, standardized regimes for defined clinical conditions are desirable.