**2.1 Selection criteria**

The first step was formulating the clinical question grounded on the acronym PIPOH as described in **Table 3**.

The clinical question guided the search for CPGs through the definition of descriptors and inclusion criteria. The following items were outside the scope of this study: pregnant and postpartum women, pediatric patients, outpatients, patients being treated for VTE, and patients suspected or diagnosed with COVID-19. The search included CPGs defined by the IOM [12] open access, in updated versions in English, Portuguese and Spanish, published between 2011 and 2021. The study was registered on the protocol registration portal, International Register of Systematic Review (PROSPERO), under number CRD42021232578.
