322 - Preventing Deep Vein Thrombosis in Patients Undergoing Spine Surgery

Description: Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a preventable condition that accounts for 60,000 to 100,000 deaths annually in the U.S.   Mechanical and pharmacological methods can be used as prophylaxis to prevent DVTs and can decrease the risk from 10% to 80%. At the Allen Spine Hospital we serve a large population that is at high risk for developing this condition.  Most of the spine surgeries they undergo last over 3 hours under general anesthesia. When looking at the number of incidences of DVTs that occurred we found that we were above the national average and benchmark.  The perioperative team which included Nursing, Anesthesia, and Neuromonitoring saw this as an opportunity to look at their practice and compare it to what present evidence recommends to decrease the risk of DVTs.  After providing guidelines to the team and reinforcing the proper time and placement of venodyne boots we saw a decline in the number of DVTs in the following quarter.

Co-Authors: Anna Fortina, Hyunhye Lee, Carol Aarons, Jihan Asante, Vanessa Wright