Clinicians who participate in decision making around choice of Venous thromboembolism prophylaxis (VTEp) for patients admitted to Australian ICUs are invited to participate in this survey. You do not need to work in a major trauma centre to participate.

The VTEp Study aims to describe current venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis prescribing practices and the incidence of VTE events among major trauma patients admitted to Australian intensive care units (ICUs). Severely injured trauma patients are at high risk of VTE, yet uncertainty remains regarding the optimal type, dose, timing of initiation, and monitoring of pharmacological VTE prophylaxis (VTEp), resulting in variation in clinical practice and guideline recommendations. Findings from this study will inform the design of a definitive randomised controlled trial to determine the optimal VTEp strategy in this population.The study comprises a prospective multicentre cohort study, a clinician survey, and a comparison of participating sites’ local VTEp guidelines.

The survey will target ICU, emergency, medical and surgical clinicians, including junior and senior medical staff and pharmacists involved in VTEp decision-making. Data will be collected through an anonymous online survey over a 6-month period.Survey questions will explore the use of mechanical prophylaxis devices, inferior vena cava (IVC) filters, and pharmacological VTEp regimens, including agent selection, dosing, timing of initiation, administration practices, and missed doses. The survey will also assess clinician views on the feasibility and acceptability of a future VTEp clinical trial and identify perceived barriers to recruitment.Quantitative responses will be analysed descriptively, while free-text responses will undergo thematic analysis. Self-reported practices will be compared with local guidelines and prescribing patterns identified in the cohort study, with prespecified subgroup analyses conducted by clinician role, centre, and level of experience.

The survey takes approximately 5-10 minutes to complete. All survey responses will be anonymous and data aggregated prior to reporting.