Sometimes a question is raised about the cost benefit of thromboprophylaxis over the treatment of confirmed VTE in our hospitalized patients. In one study Gualberto Gussoni et al (2013) from Italy showed that the VTE management costs 4 times more than the prophylaxis.
They have examined in-hospital paths of 160 patients with VTE (VTE group) and 160 patients receiving prophylaxis and without VTE (NO-VTE group) retrospectively within 26 internal medicine units in Italy. The total median costs for VTE management were around four-times higher than those for prophylaxis (€ 1,348.68 vs € 373.03). Human resources were the most important cost-driver (55.5% and 65.7% in the VTE and NO-VTE groups), followed by instrumental (24.6% in VTE and 15.5% in NO-VTE) and haematologic tests (12.6% in VTE patients and 13.3% in controls). In the NO-VTE group the direct costs for prophylaxis accounted for 4.5% of total. The real-world data of this study confirm the economic burden of in-hospital treatment of VTE, and the relatively low costs of thromboprophylaxis. A greater adherence to evidence-based protocols for VTE prevention could probably reduce the current financial burden of VTE on healthcare systems
