This site is intended for healthcare professionals

Go to /sign-in page

You can view 5 more pages before signing in

Wells score in the clinical prediction of pulmonary embolus (PE)

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Wells et al developed a simple clinical model which was able to predict the possibility of a patient having a PE.

It contained 7 variables with a total score of 12.5 points

  • predisposing factors
    • previous DVT or PE - 1.5 points
    • recent surgery or immobilization - 1.5 points
    • cancer - 1 point
  • symptoms
    • haemoptysis - 1 point
  • clinical signs
    • heart rate >100 beats/min - 1.5 points
    • clinical signs of DVT - 3 points
  • clinical judgement
    • alternative diagnosis less likely than PE - 3 points

The clinical probability can be divided according to the points scored into:

  • three-category scheme
    • low 0-1 points
    • intermediate 2-6 points
    • high 7 or more points

  • two-category scheme
    • PE unlikely 0-4 points
    • PE likely >4 points

The two category (two level) Well's score is used by NICE (2).

Reference:


Related pages

Create an account to add page annotations

Add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation, such as a web address or phone number. This information will always be displayed when you visit this page