Methodology: 3.5/5
Usefulness: 2/5
Question and methods: The authors sought to develop a new, simplified clinical decision rule to exclude DVT using individual patient data from 4 prospective diagnostic studies of patients with suspected DVT.
Findings: Three items were included in the new rule: 1) calf swelling, 2) DVT as most likely diagnosis, and 3) D-Dimer. The overall sensitivity was 98.1% and specificity was 49.4%.
Limitations: External validation and prospective evaluation should be carried out to assess the diagnostic performance of the rule.
Interpretation: This rule may be more appealing to use compared with standard approaches such as the Wells score because there are fewer items to apply.
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