Abstract
BackgroundVenous thromboembolism (VTE) is the third leading cause of cardiovascular-associated death worldwide, and VTE prevention is one of the top patient safety strategies that hospitals can adopt. This study aimed to understand patients’ perceptions of VTE prevention related to major orthopedic surgery in order to guide the clinical practice of medical staff and improve patient quality of life. Patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery should receive interventions to prevent VTE. To encourage patient participation, these interventions should be patient-centered. However, few studies have examined the perceptions of VTE prevention among patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery.MethodsParticipants were purposively selected from among patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery in the orthopedic department of a level-three, class-A hospital in Beijing, China. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews, and findings were based on a thematic content analysis. All interviews were held during each patient’s hospital stay.ResultsFrom eight patients who participated, the following themes were identified: (1) unclear understanding of VTE, (2) poor understanding of the severity of postoperative VTE, and (3) poor understanding of VTE prevention.ConclusionsThere are weak links in clinical care related to VTE prevention. We should aim to more completely understand patients’ needs, strengthen the health education provided to patients, and improve patient adherence to preventative measures.
Highlights
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the third leading cause of cardiovascular-associated death worldwide, and VTE prevention is one of the top patient safety strategies that hospitals can adopt
Xu et al Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery and Research (2018) 13:98 explore this topic in order to more accurately guide the clinical practices of medical staff and to improve the quality of life of patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery
We interviewed patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery to explore their knowledge and understanding of VTE prevention
Summary
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the third leading cause of cardiovascular-associated death worldwide, and VTE prevention is one of the top patient safety strategies that hospitals can adopt. This study aimed to understand patients’ perceptions of VTE prevention related to major orthopedic surgery in order to guide the clinical practice of medical staff and improve patient quality of life. Patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery should receive thromboprophylactic interventions, including health education, properly implemented basic prevention strategies, physical prevention strategies, and appropriate antithrombotic drugs. These interventions should be patient-centered in order to encourage patient participation and adherence. VTE results in substantial morbidity and is an important cause of perioperative and unexpected in-hospital deaths [13] In these patients, it is necessary to combine basic prevention, physical prevention, and appropriate antithrombotic drugs according to the guidelines [11,12,13]. We followed up the participants over the telephone 35 days after the surgery; none of the patients showed any symptoms of VTE
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