Prevention of venous thromboembolism. A survey of methods used by orthopaedic and general surgeons.

752 orthopaedic and 663 general surgeions were sent a questionnaire asking how they attempted to prevent venous thromboembolism; the survey concerned prophylaxis offered routinely to elderly patients with hip fractures, to patients undergoing elective hip replacement arthroplasty, and to patients undergoing major abdominal and thoracic operations. The response rate was more than 70%. The results suggest that the provision of prophylaxis against venous thromboembolism is inversely related to the frequency with which it occurs--e.g., the proportions of surgeons offering no routine prophylaxis or ambulation and physiotherapy only was 72% for hip fractures, 52% for hip replacement, and 38% for general surgery.