Are TED Stockings Applied Correctly in Surgical Patients? ($5,529)
Hospitals spend a lot of money on anti-embolic stockings. These stockings are meant to be used on patients who are relatively bed-bound after an operation in order to reduce the risk of obtaining a deep venous thrombus (DVT) in the calf veins and subsequent lung embolism which can prove fatal. However, it is my observation that many post-operative patients do not have these stockings either correctly applied or applied at all.
Therefore the purpose of this study is to run a hospital-wide audit on the usage of these anti-embolic stockings. I aim to see what proportion of patients do not have stockings correctly applied and whether or not that proves to be a significant number. I will also look into the reasons these patients do not have stockings on and see if I can identify areas for improvement in our system.
The final part of this study is to show that incorrectly applied stockings, for example if they are too tight, can actually be harmful to the patient. This is because it will impair the venous return in the legs and hence increase the risk of forming a DVT. For that I will incorrectly apply an anti-embolic stocking to my own leg and undergo an ultrasonic examination to see if I can demonstrate any impairment in venous return.
To my best knowledge, an audit like this has not been carried out anywhere in Australia. In fact, there is no published data for such a project world-wide.
Tasmania's Clifford Craig Medical Research Trust was established in 1991.