Heparin Question???

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Make that Heparin or oher blood thinner. I didn't mean only Heparin brand.

For what you describe the standard of care is Lovenox the AM of surgery. But if someone has extensive surgery they may give a Heparin drip titrated to a specific number of units per hour. Even that is being changed to Lovenox in many cases.

That's why I was questioning the two weeks of Heparin routine others are having to endure. That's just a lot of anticoagulants for banding. I personally wouldn't do it. As expensive as a single dose of Lovenox is it is still cheaper than two weeks of Heparin. I completely support the Lovenox concept, but not 2 weeks of Heparin for your average banded person. Just kinda thinking outloud here, it *seems* that there is another kind of risk with two weeks of Heparin. What if the person is in an auto accident? A little bump on the head could mean a serious bleed. I can think of a hundred scenarios where this could have potential for concern. But them I am the one running into walls and such (walking!) and I am just not the most graceful person on this planet.

My guess is that some idiot doctor didn't use Lovenox pre-op for some high risk patient and they threw a clot. So now everyone else has to mess with two weeks of Heparin to cover their doc's back side because of a stupid journal article.