Costs Of Deep Vein Thrombosis And Pulmonary Embolism Assessed

In a recent study, the London, UK-based Office of Health Economics (which is funded by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry) stated that over 400 deaths could have been avoided if patients had been treated prophylactically for deep vein thrombosis and its complication, pulmonary embolism. This, it says, could have saved the UK National Health Service up to L82 million ($131 million) in 1993.

It is estimated that DVT, with or without pulmonary embolism (an often fatal obstruction of oxygen circulation in the lungs), occurs in approximately two in every 1,000 people in the UK each year, with the highest population being found in the hospital setting. Data from a study in Sheffield, UK, show that 9% of patients died whilst in a general hospital, and that 10% of these, or 0.9% of all admissions, died from PE.

Treatment Of DVT Due to the inefficient diagnosis of DVT, the matter of treatment is a somewhat complex issue. Patients with DVT should be treated accordingly and with the aim of preventing PE, while patients who do not have DVT should not be treated for it, both to prevent patient morbidity and to reduce costs.