Abstract

▸ The Guidelines in Emergency Medicine Network (GEMNet) has been created to promote best medical practice in a range of conditions presenting to emergency departments (EDs) in the UK.

▸ This guideline presents a summary of the best available evidence to guide the use of thromboprophylaxis in adult ambulatory outpatients who present to the ED following acute limb trauma and require temporary immobilisation.

▸ The document has been developed following discussion among emergency physicians and collegiate fellows to decide which topics would benefit from the development of clinical guidelines.

▸ The document is intended as a guideline for use in the ED by emergency physicians and is based on the review of the best existing evidence for treatments used in this setting.

▸ The document is summarised as a Clinical Decision Support Guideline that has been presented as an easy to follow algorithm.

▸ The intention is for each guideline to be updated and reviewed as further evidence becomes available. The formal revision date has been set at 5 years from publication, though the guideline is subject to continuous informal review.