The role of intraoperative heparin in reducing the incidence of postoperative deep venous thrombosis

Abstract

A prospective study to determine the incidence of postoperative DVT in patients undergoing vascular surgical operations was carried out. Twenty-eight patients who underwent vascular surgical procedures were studied. Five thousand units of intravenously given heparin was administered intraoperatively to each patient, with no other prophylaxis against DVT being used. DVT was detected by means of radioactive fibrinogen uptake studies. Two patients had DVT develop, an incidence of 7.1 per cent which is lower than the 30 to 40 per cent that might be expected in patients of the same age undergoing general surgical procedures. Both DVT developed in the late postoperative period. It is suggested that the single dosage of heparin given to these patients protects them against the development of DVT and is responsible for the low incidence of DVT observed in these patients.