The Medical journal of Australia
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Observational Study
Identifying the cultural heritage of patients during clinical handover and in hospital medical records.
To examine the frequency of and rationale for hospital doctors mentioning a patient's cultural heritage (ethnicity, national heritage, religion) during medical handovers and in medical records. ⋯ Explicitly mentioning the cultural heritage of patients is inconsistent and seldom explained. After adjusting for other factors, Aboriginal patients were significantly more likely to be identified than patients with other backgrounds.
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Practice Guideline
New guidelines from the Thrombosis and Haemostasis Society of Australia and New Zealand for the diagnosis and management of venous thromboembolism.
Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE), is the third most common cardiovascular disease and, globally, more than an estimated 10 million people have it yearly. It is a chronic and recurrent disease. The symptoms of VTE are non-specific and the diagnosis should actively be sought once considered. The mainstay of VTE treatment is anticoagulation, with few patients requiring additional intervention. A working group of experts in the area recently completed an evidence-based guideline for the diagnosis and management of DVT and PE on behalf of the Thrombosis and Haemostasis Society of Australia and New Zealand (www.thanz.org.au/resources/thanz-guidelines). ⋯ Most patients with acute VTE should be treated with a factor Xa inhibitor and be assessed for extended anticoagulation.