The guideline development group (GDG), which was comprised of physical therapists with special interest in acute care and cardiovascular and pulmonary practice, was appointed by the Cardiovascular and Pulmonary and the Acute Care Sections to develop a guideline to address the physical therapist’s role in the management of VTE. In specific, the role of mobility was identified as a major issue facing both sections. Models used by the APTA Pediatric Section for their CPG on Physical Therapy Management of Congenital Muscular Torticollis 13 were primarily used to develop this CPG as well as other APTA supported CPGs and international processes. In July 2012, the GDG initiated the process under the guidance of the APTA and developed a list of topic areas to be covered by the CPG. In addition, topic areas were solicited from clinicians with content experience in the area of VTE who volunteered to assist. A resultant list of topic areas was developed to determine the scope of the CPG and provided the GPG with limits to the literature search.
