Acute Medicine | Breathlessness 07 knowledge A for GPs

Risk Factors for Pulmonary Embolism
Session Overview
Description
Explanation of the origins and utilisation of the modified Wells score for pulmonary embolism in practice.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Integrate the modified Wells score into your routine management of a suspected pulmonary embolism

Chest pain and/or breathlessness are frequent presentations to hospitals as emergencies. After initial clinical assessment, a common differential diagnosis will be pulmonary embolism (PE). While only a small proportion of these patients will be diagnosed with PE, if undiagnosed and untreated, PE will be fatal in approximately 30% of cases.

It is recommended that all patients with possible PE should have their clinical risk probability assessed and documented. Risk scores, such as the modified Wells score for PE, allow doctors to distinguish between those patients who may require further investigation and those for whom an alternative clinical explanation should be considered.

Use this short session to revise the use of the modified Wells score for PE.