Higher risk of blood clots in hospital than when flying

Frequent flyers have long been familiar with the spectre of blood clots, but there is a far greater chance of developing this potentially fatal condition during a stay in hospital.

The gap in public awareness is now being targeted by a HSE campaign. The information drive notes that clots are the single largest cause of preventable deaths in Irish hospitals.

About 11,000 people develop them every year. And blood clots, or venous thrombo-embolism, consist of deep venous thrombosis in the legs which can travel to the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism, a blockage in the artery.

At least 60 per cent of clots occur during a hospital stay or in the 90-day period afterwards. About 70 per cent are preventable.

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"Although people are generally aware of the risk of blood clots associated with flying, the risk associated with hospitalisation is much higher," said the HSE's clinical lead for medication safety, Ciara Kirke. Public awareness of this risk and of the signs and symptoms of blood clots is low. This has resulted in many people dying from clots days or weeks after having symptoms in their leg and/or lungs."

Swelling or pain

In order to reduce fatalities, the HSE is launching a new “patient alert card”. They highlight signs and symptoms of clots that include swelling or pain in one leg, shortness of breath of rapid breathing, coughing and chest pain.

Work has already begun on reducing blood clots in hospitals. During a year-long improvement scheme, teams in 27 hospitals increased prevention, resulting in 34,000 more patients getting the correct preventative measures. Healthcare professionals have also been attended training in the area.

“These hospitals have shown that they can achieve high rates of appropriate prevention and we are sharing how they did that,” said Ms Kirke.