The American Society of Hematology (ASH), the world’s largest professional society concerned with the causes and treatment of blood disorders, has long recognized the need for a comprehensive set of guidelines on the treatment of VTE to help the medical community better manage this serious condition. In partnership with the McMaster University GRADE Centre, a world leader in guideline development and an authority on thrombosis, ASH brought together more than 100 experts including hematologists, other clinicians, guideline development specialists, and patient representatives to tackle this challenge. ASH recently announced the results of their collective efforts – the 2018 ASH Clinical Practice Guidelines on Venous Thromboembolism.
The 2018 ASH VTE guidelines were developed using a state-of-the-art methodology to ensure they meet the highest standards for trustworthiness and transparency, and they include infographics, information on the guideline development process and guideline implementation tools and resources. The panels were explicit about how recommendations were determined and open about the quality of the evidence that factored into the final decision-making process.
The six guidelines chapters recently published are:
- Prophylaxis for hospitalized and non-hospitalized medical patients
- Diagnosis of VTE
- Optimal management of anticoagulation therapy
- Heparin-induced thrombocytopenia
- VTE in the context of pregnancy
- Treatment of pediatric VTE
Four remaining chapters are in development with tentative publication in 2019:
- Treatment of deep-vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism
- VTE in patients with cancer
- Thrombophilia
- Prevention of VTE in surgical patients
