Comparing and contrasting current guidelines for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis after total hip and total knee arthroplasty.

Orthopaedic surgeons may be impacted by three different clinical venous thromboembolism guidelines: the American College of Chest Physicians guidelines, the Surgical Care Improvement Project guidelines, and, most recently, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) guideline. The American College of Chest Physicians guidelines use deep venous thrombosis detected by venography or ultrasonography as their primary outcome measure. High-grade recommendations are based on prospective randomized studies only, usually comparing one pharmacologic agent to another. The Surgical Care Improvement Project guidelines are essentially based on the 2004 American College of Chest Physicians guidelines and seek to determine if surgeons prescribe venous thromboembolism prophylaxis within 24 hours of admission. Compliance with these guidelines may affect the quality rating of a particular hospital. The AAOS guideline was designed with the clinical outcome measures of symptomatic pulmonary embolism, fatal pulmonary embolism, major bleeding, and all-cause mortality. This guideline recommends that surgeons preoperatively evaluate the patient's risks (standard or elevated) for pulmonary embolism and serious bleeding and individualize pharmacologic prophylaxis based on a risk-benefit ratio. The three guidelines all have advantages and disadvantages.