Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Blood clot prevention effects of low molecular weight heparin versus
By Scott, Kielyn C et al.·Published in Journal of veterinary emergency and critical care (San Antonio, Tex. : 2001)·2009·Department of Clinical Sciences, United States·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Coagulation effects of low molecular weight heparin compared with heparin in dogs considered to be at risk for clinically significant venous thrombosis.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
Eighteen dogs at risk for blood clots were treated with different types of heparin to see which worked best to prevent venous thrombosis. The dogs received either low-dose heparin, high-dose heparin, or dalteparin over 24 hours. While the high-dose heparin did increase anti-factor Xa activity (a measure of blood thinning) in some dogs, it also caused bleeding issues in others, leading to some dogs dropping out of the study. The other two treatments did not effectively increase the desired blood-thinning levels.
People also search for: dog blood clot treatment · heparin for dogs · dog bleeding after medication
Abstract
OBJECTIVE: Compare the effects of 3 anticoagulation protocols on anti-factor Xa activity (AXa). DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, double-blind study. SETTING: University veterinary teaching hospital. ANIMALS: Eighteen dogs considered to be at risk for venous thrombosis. INTERVENTIONS: Each dog was randomly assigned to 1 of the following 3 groups (n=6/group) and was treated for 24 hours: low-dose heparin (LDH), high-dose heparin (HDH), and dalteparin (DP). Dogs in the LDH group received a constant rate infusion (CRI) of unfractionated heparin (UFH) at 300 U/kg/d, the HDH group received a bolus of 100 U/kg of UFH IV, then a CRI of 900 U/kg/day, and the DP group received 100 U/kg DP SC at 0, 12, and 24 hours. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: A total of 54 samples for activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) and AXa assays were collected at 0, 4, and 28 hours. Six samples had an AXa >0.1 U/mL, 5 of those were from the HDH group at hour 4. Two samples from the HDH group at hour 4 had a prolonged aPTT (93 and 200 seconds) and the highest AXa (0.6 and 1.0 U/mL, respectively). Four additional dogs in the HDH group did not complete the study due to hemorrhage; none of the dogs completing the study showed signs of hemorrhage. CONCLUSIONS: Neither DP nor LDH increased AXa to values considered therapeutic in humans (0.5-1 and 0.35-0.75 U/mL, respectively), and both protocols appear to be inadequate to increase AXa in dogs with clinical illness. HDH increased AXa to this range in 2 of 6 dogs, but had unpredictable effects on aPTT and resulted in hemorrhage in some dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19691587/