World journal of surgery
-
World journal of surgery · Feb 2012
Incidence and prevention of postoperative venous thromboembolism: are they meaningful quality indicators in Japanese health care settings?
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) epidemiology varies widely across surgical procedures. At present, there are few epidemiologic reports regarding VTE in Japan. Japanese VTE prophylaxis guidelines recommend a risk-based approach based on previous epidemiologic statistics. VTE includes deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE). PE prevention is the main goal, although the relation between PE and DVT is still controversial. ⋯ Our results are consistent with established data regarding DVT and PE incidence. Administrative data available in Japan provides a powerful epidemiologic tool to characterize rare diseases such as DVT and PE. DVT is not a suitable quality indicator in Japan. However, PE is too rare to be considered a rate-based outcome indicator, and VTE prophylaxis is [corrected] widely applied to be used as a process indicator. VTE measurement is not a useful quality indicator in Japan to compare hospitals but provides a longitudinal self-survey.