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Physician Compliance With Warfarin Prophylaxis for Central Venous Catheters in Patients With Solid Tumors

From the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Hematology and Medical Oncology, University of New Mexico School of Medicine and Cancer Research and Treatment Center, Albuquerque, NM.

Address reprint requests to Ian Rabinowitz, MD, Cancer Research and Treatment Center, 900 Camino de Salud, Albuquerque, NM 87131-5636; email irabinowitz{at}salud.unm.edu

PURPOSE: There is an established benefit of prophylactic warfarin in cancer patients with central venous catheters. This study assessed the compliance rate of prophylactic low-dose warfarin prescription in cancer patients with central venous catheters at a single institution.

PATIENTS AND METHODS: Oncology patients with central venous catheters were identified by a retrospective chart review. Information retrieved included whether prophylactic warfarin had been prescribed and whether the patient had suffered a thrombotic or bleeding event. After the initial chart review, physicians were notified of the benefits of warfarin prophylaxis, and subsequently, a physician-independent mechanism of prescribing prophylactic warfarin was instituted. After each of these interventions, we retrospectively reviewed a further two cohorts of patients to assess compliance with warfarin prophylaxis.

RESULTS: During the baseline study, only 10% of patients were prescribed prophylactic warfarin. After physician notification, the compliance rate increased to only 20% (P = .3). After instituting the physician-independent mechanism of prescribing prophylactic warfarin, the compliance rate increased to 95% (P < .001). The rate of catheter-related thrombosis was 11% for patients who were prescribed warfarin compared with 21% in those who were not anticoagulated (P = .2).

CONCLUSION: At our institution, the rate of prescribing prophylactic warfarin was low in this patient population, and there was a reluctance of treating physicians to change their prescribing practice. Mechanisms exist to improve the rate of anticoagulant prophylaxis in this clinical setting. We recommend that institutions review their rate of compliance with prophylactic anticoagulation for patients with central venous catheters and solid tumors.

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