Clinical practice guideline for the prevention of venous thromboembolic events during pregnancy, childbirth or postpartum period

ABSTRACT Objective: To reduce unwarranted variability and support healthcare professionals with the best available evidence regarding effectiveness and safety of the interventions used for the prevention of venous thromboembolic events during pregnancy, childbirth or the postpartum period, and to develop guideline implementation indicators. Materials and methods: The team of developers consisted of healthcare professionals and one patient representative. Answerable clinical questions were asked, outcomes were graded, and a systematic search of clinical practice guidelines was performed. The latter were analysed for methodological quality and when it was found that none of them could be adapted, a de novo development was undertaken. A search was conducted of systematic reviews, clinical trials and observational studies in PubMed, EMBASE and Central. The GRADE methodology (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) was used to graduate the quality of the evidence as well as the direction and strength of the recommendations. Results: The abridged version of the clinical practice guideline for the "prevention of venous thromboembolic events during pregnancy, childbirth or the postpartum period" is presented together with the respective recommendations, supporting evidence and audit criteria. Conclusion: The core recommendation for implementation is the use of a tool to assess risk, as well as pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions for primary prevention. The Guideline must be updated in three years.