Frequency of Heparin-inducedthromocytopenia in Patients Treated with Un-fractionated vs. Low Molecular-weight Heparin

Abstract

Objective: To compare the frequency of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia with un-
fractionated vs. low-molecular-weight heparin in patients presenting with deep vein thrombosis
Methods: This randomized control trial was conducted at department of medicine, Mayo
Hospital, Lahore for 6 month i.e. 18-05-2016 to 19-11-2016. Informed consent was taken from all
the patients. The non-probability, consecutive sampling technique was used. All the data was
collected in terms of two groups. Group A consists of patients receiving UFH 2.5cc in 97.5cc
normal saline in micro-burette @8udrops/min continuous infusion while group B consists of
patients receiving LMWH (injection enoxaparin) 60mg subcutaneously twice a day. Platelet count
was done on 3rd and 10th day. If platelet count is found to be <50% than baseline, then HIT was
labeled. All the collected data was entered and analyzed on SPSS version 20.
Results: In our study the mean age of the patients was 52.33±7.38 years, the male to female
ratio of the patients was 1.14:1. In this study the HIT was found in 9(3.75%) patients. Statistically
significant difference was found between the study groups with HIT of the patients. i. e p-
value=0.017.
Conclusions: HIT is an established complication of heparin therapy. Use of LMWH significantly
decreases chances of HIT as compared to UFH in patients presenting with DVT in medical wards