Abstract: Objective: To analyze the application status and implementation barriers of the 2013 Caprini Risk Assessment Model (Caprini RAM) in Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) prevention of surgical patients, in order to help the 2013 Caprini RAM be disseminated, implemented and maintained. Methods: A retrospective investigation was conducted on patients who underwent elective surgery and were discharged between June 2023 and March 2024 from five tertiary grade A hospitals in Guizhou province using the 2013 Caprini RAM, to evaluate its application status in surgical patients. From July to November 2024, primary nurses in charge of the wards of the retrospective study subjects were selected as qualitative research subjects. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand the barriers to the implementation of the 2013 Caprini RAM in surgical patients. Results: Among the 86,420 surgical patients, the 2013 Caprini RAM accounted for 36.21% of the total evaluated at the seven evaluation times, and the incidence of VTE was 38.98%. The incidence of VTE varied with the lack of evaluation at different time points. The insufficient cognition, training, applicability, and evaluation process were the obstacles to the implementation of the 2013 Caprini RAM in surgical patients. Conclusion: The application of the 2013 Caprini RAM in surgical patients is not yet mature. Its clinical promotion is constrained by multidimensional factors including cognitive level, training, model applicability, and the evaluation process.

Key words: Caprini RAM; Venous Thromboembolism; risk; surgical patient; implementation barrier