Date: Thursday 3 December 2009
MEDIA RELEASE
Cutting hospital deaths by preventing
blood clots
Australians at risk of potentially fatal blood clots will benefit from NHMRC’s new Australian Guideline for
the Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE). These evidence-based guidelines developed by the
National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) provide recommendations on prevention of VTE
for adult patients admitted to Australian hospitals.
Thirty thousand people are hospitalised each year in Australia due to VTE. Approximately 2,000
Australians die each year from VTE. Eighty percent of these cases are related to prior hospitalisation for
either surgery or acute illness.
VTE is the technical term for blood clots that form in the leg (deep vein thrombosis - DVT), affecting blood
flow and causing severe pain and swelling. When a blood clot forms, some of it can break off and travel to
the lungs blocking blood supply and preventing the lungs from sending oxygen to the rest of the body. This
type of clot (pulmonary embolism – PE) can lead to difficulty breathing and sudden death.
VTE prevention, though the routine use of simple measures such as compression stockings, anti-clotting
medication and venous pumping devices, keeps people out of hospital, reduces complication rates and
saves lives.
The Guideline is intended for use by doctors, nurses, pharmacists and allied health professionals but also
provides useful information for consumers and those responsible for the quality and safety of healthcare.
“It is essential that we have an evidence-based prevention guideline that sets out clear nationally agreed
recommendations for Australian clinicians to reduce the incidence of VTE,” said the CEO of the NHMRC,
Professor Warwick Anderson.
Professor Anderson encouraged clinicians to use the Guideline.
The Guideline was developed over an 18 month period using the best available evidence and a rigorous
methodology. The development of this Guideline was funded and managed by NHMRC’s National Institute
of Clinical Studies (NICS) in collaboration with a multidisciplinary expert committee chaired by Professor
Michael Frommer, from the School of Public Health at The University of Sydney. Representation on the
committee comprised experts from key clinical disciplines including nursing, pharmacy, public health and
patient groups. The Guideline underwent an extensive public consultation in April of this year.
Contact: Julie Stragalinos, NICS, 03 8866 0409 or 0419 638 271
Note to editors
The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is Australia's peak body for supporting
health and medical research. As part of the NHMRC, the National Institute of Clinical Studies (NICS)
works to improve health care by getting health and medical research into practice.
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