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Go with the flow
Follow these guidelines and know these markers to prevent clots and recognise thrombosis risk factors.
World Thrombosis Day was marked in October. Dr Huyen Tran, head of haemostasis and thrombosis at Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, called it a time to learn more about the condition and determine who is most at risk and what can be done to prevent its onset.
Tran reported that about 5000 Australians die every year from preventable blood clots. He said thromboses can be an underlying cause of heart attacks, strokes and venous thromboembolism( VTE).
“ Research suggests that VTEs are often preventable, and evidence-based prevention strategies can stop the development of clots in‘ at-risk’ individuals,”
Tran said, before outlining three major ways to prevent thrombosis: 1To identify whether a patient is‘ at-risk’, healthcare professionals should conduct a VTE risk assessment, which is a tool or questionnaire that gathers information about a patient’ s age, medical history, medications and specific lifestyle factors. Information is then used to discern a patient’ s potential risk( for example, high, moderate or low risk) for developing blood clots in the legs or lungs. 2Compression stockings: Wear these during long hospital stays and when flying. 3Stay active: being active and moving around may help prevent clots.
Tran went on to outline 11 ways to know who is at greater risk of thrombosis, which he segmented into three groups:
STRONG RISK
• being in the hospital for an extended period of time
• having surgery, especially hip, knee and cancer-related surgery
• not moving for long periods of time; for example, due to bedrest or long-haul travel.
MODERATE RISK
• aged 60 and above
• personal or family history of blood clots
• having cancer and / or undergoing chemotherapy
• using estrogen-based medication; for example, oral contraceptives or hormone replacement therapy.
OTHER FACTORS
• ubesity
• pregnancy or recent birth
• smoking
• alcohol consumption.
Well-healed feet save
Investment in proven diabetic foot care a‘ no brainer’ for better outcomes, costs.
Thousands of people with diabetic foot disease could be spared amputations and lengthy hospitalisations if government invests in proven treatments, recent research suggests. Furthermore, $ 2.7 billion could be saved over five years.
These treatments, per the Australian diabetic foot disease guidelines, include receiving regular care by a multidisciplinary team including a doctor and podiatrist, patient education, appropriate wound dressings, appropriate footwear, and moonboots to offload pressure under the foot.
Study co-author Peter Lazzarini said there are about 50,000 Australians with a diabetic foot ulcer today and hundreds of thousands that are at high risk of developing one.
“ This study shows if we simply fund proven recommended diabetic foot disease care we will not only save limbs and lives, but we will save billions of dollars for Australia, even after factoring in the increased investment in proven care,” Lazzarini said.
Study lead and health economist Dr Rosana Norman said the findings suggest an investment in proven diabetic foot care is a no brainer.“ Not only do you get better clinical outcomes but you also save money.”
The research team found data from Australian and international studies to determine the probabilities of patients healing, ulcerating, needing hospitalisations, amputations and dying when they received what was deemed best care and when they received the usual care provided in Australia.
“ We then entered these data into a widely used economic model to forecast the costs and quality of life associated with best care compared with usual care over five years,” Norman said.
“ What we found was quite startling- not only do patients receiving best care have faster ulcer healing, fewer recurrent ulcers, hospitalisations and amputations, but they also have a better quality of life and we still save thousands of dollars per patient.” ■
8 agedcareinsite. com. au