Preventing Blood Clots in Knee-Surgery Patients

A thrombin inhibitor shows promise in preventing the development of blood clots in veins in the legs of patients undergoing elective total knee replacement (TKR) surgery, according to the results of an early clinical trial.

In the study, an oral twice-a-day dose of the thrombin inhibitor (H376/95) was associated with a 15.8% incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE), compared to 22.7% incidence with injections of low-molecular-weight heparin. Both were equally well tolerated. The thrombin inhibitor is the first in a new class of oral anticoagulants under investigation in nearly 50 years, says the developer, AstraZeneca (London, UK). It prevents clot formation in a different way from low-molecular-weight heparin and the blood thinner warfarin, acting in the final stage of the formation of a clot by inhibiting thrombin.

Patients undergoing hip or knee replacement are at high risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), which may result in pulmonary embolism (PE). DVT and PE are collectively referred to as VTE.



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