By Michael Wong, JD (Founder & Executive Director, Physician-Patient Alliance for Health & Safety)
CDC estimates that almost one million Americans suffer from venous thromboembolism (VTE), also known as blood clots. VTE is a term that is comprised of two medical conditions deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which is a blood clot in one or more of the deep veins in the body, usually in the legs, and pulmonary embolism (PE), which is a blood clot in a pulmonary artery in the lungs.
According to the CDC:
- As many as 100,000 people die of blood clots each year.
- PE is a leading cause of death in a woman during pregnancy or just after having a baby.
- Blood clots are a leading cause of death in people with cancer after cancer itself.
Amy Campbell, Ph.D., RN, CPHQ, LSBB is a Quality Nurse Specialist at Vidant Health in North Carolina. At Vidant Health, Dr. Campbell has drastically decreased the rate of venous thromboembolism (VTE).
As blood clots are often preventable, I spoke with Dr. Campbell about what patients and their caregivers can do to prevent VTE:
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