Study population and data collection
A single center, retrospective chart review was conducted in which pediatric patients who met inclusion criteria that were treated with enoxaparin for VTE (including PE or DVT) over a 10-year period (2009-2019) were assessed. The study was approved by the Institutional Review Board at University of New Mexico Hospitals with waiver of informed consent. Patients were identified by ICD-9 or ICD-10 codes for VTE, PE, or DVT. Patients were included if they were 2 months to 18 years of age who had received an enoxaparin dose based on the CHEST guidelines for treatment of VTE and anti-Xa levels drawn to establish target attainment. Patients were excluded if they were neonates, on renal replacement therapy, prescribed enoxaparin for VTE prophylaxis, incomplete data for chart review, or patients who were not managed based on the CHEST guideline dosing recommendations. The primary objective of the study was to determine which characteristics led to enoxaparin dose changes in pediatric patients. The secondary objective was to determine the mean number of dosing changes needed to reach target level, the mean number of anti-Xa levels drawn, and explore the number of dose changes based on the confirmatory, week 1, and month 1 anti-Xa levels. See table 1 for variables analyzed.
Study data were collected and managed using REDCap electronic data capture tools hosted at the University of New Mexico.13 REDCap (Research Electronic Data Capture) is a secure, web-based application designed to support data capture for research studies, providing 1) an intuitive interface for validated data entry; 2) audit trails for tracking data manipulation and export procedures; 3) automated export procedures for seamless data downloads to common statistical packages; and 4) procedures for importing data from external sources.