A simple measure to improve the rates of thromboprophylaxis prescription post surgical fixation of neck of femur fractures in a district general hospital

Neck of femur (NOF) fractures are a major public health concern because of the ageing population and higher incidence of fragility fractures. NOF fractures are associated with high mortality and morbidity rates, and there is a high risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after hip fractures (Ref 1). Therefore thromboprophylaxis is vital. Current NICE guidelines advocate 28 - 35 days of thromboprophylaxis after NOF fractures (Ref 1, 2). It came to our attention that patients post NOF fixation were getting variable prescriptions in regards to their thromboprophylaxis. Therefore a retrospective study on prescription of thromboprophylaxis was conducted from October 2012 to February 2013 within the trauma and orthopaedics department at Queens Hospital, Romford. Data was collected on all NOF fractures from electronic discharge summaries. Basic descriptive statistics were used to analysis the data. There were 110 cases of NOF fractures during this period. 100 patients were included since two were discounted as they were already on long term anticoagulants and eight patients died in hospital. No thromboprophylaxis was prescribed for 15 patients (15%). Three patients (3%) were prescribed less than 28 days (mean 14 days, range (14 - 14 days)). 69 patients (69%) received 28 - 35 days of thromprophylaxis, whilst five patients (5%) received more than 35 days (mean 42 days, range 40 - 42 days). Formal departmental teaching and presentation of the findings was given after the initial study and a small label with the message, 'POST NOF #: 28-35 days Enoxaparin', was attached to the back of all the junior doctor work phones. After the intervention, data was collected from the period of 7th of January to 7th of February 2013. The second study showed that 50 patients were admitted with NOF fractures in this time period. Four patients died in hospital and three patients were discounted as they were on Warfarin. Two patients were not prescribed thromboprophylaxis (5%). 34 (79%) patients received 28 - 35 days, whereas seven patients (16%) received 42 days of thromboprophylaxis. The older patients with multiple co-morbidities and reduced mobility are at high risk of developing thromboembolism post NOF fixation. Our initial study identified inadequate prescription of thromboprophylaxis post NOF fractures. After introduction of simple measures such as the reminder label attached to phones, our repeat study found that there was improvement in prescription rates. Our study highlights that simple measures can increase awareness and improve patient safety.