Customized weight based enoxaparin dosage helps avoid coagulation complications: Study
In a recent development, researchers have suggested that weight-based administration of prophylactic enoxaparin in postoperative patients , showed superior pharmacokinetics for avoidance of underanticoagulation and overanticoagulation.The findings have been published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.
The accepted "one-size-fits-all" dose strategy for prophylactic enoxaparin may not optimize the medication's risks and benefits after surgical procedures.
With this background,the authors hypothesized that weight-based administration might improve the pharmacokinetics of prophylactic enoxaparin when compared to fixed-dose administration.
Regarding the study design,the FIxed or Variable Enoxaparin (FIVE) trial was a randomized, double-blind trial that compared the pharmacokinetic and clinical outcomes of patients assigned randomly to postoperative venous thromboembolism prophylaxis using enoxaparin 40 mg twice daily or enoxaparin 0.5 mg/kg twice daily. Patients were randomized after surgery and received the first enoxaparin dose at 8 hours after surgery.
Primary hypotheses were (1) weight-based administration is noninferior to a fixed dose for avoiding underanticoagulation (anti-factor Xa <0.2 IU/ml) and (2) weight-based administration is superior to fixed-dose administration for avoiding overanticoagulation (anti-factor Xa >0.4 IU/ml). Secondary endpoints were 90-day venous thromboembolism and bleeding.
Data analysis revealed some interesting facts.
- In total, 295 patients were randomized, with 151 assigned to fixed-dose and 144 to weight-based administration of enoxaparin. For avoidance of under anticoagulation, weight-based administration had a greater effectiveness (79.9 percent versus 76.6 percent); the 3.3 percent (95 percent CI, -7.5 to 12.5 percent) greater effectiveness achieved statistically significant noninferiority relative to the a priori specified -12 percent noninferiority margin (p = 0.004).
- For avoidance of overanticoagulation, weight-based enoxaparin administration was superior to fixed-dose administration (90.6 percent versus 82.2 percent); the 8.4 percent (95 percent CI, 0.1 to 16.6 percent) greater effectiveness showed significant safety superiority (p = 0.046).
- Ninety-day venous thromboembolism and major bleeding were not different between fixed-dose and weight-based cohorts (0.66 percent versus 0.69 percent, p = 0.98; 3.3 percent versus 4.2 percent, p = 0.72, respectively).
For the full article follow the link: Optimal Dosing of Prophylactic Enoxaparin after Surgical Procedures: Results of the Double-Blind, Randomized, Controlled FIxed or Variable Enoxaparin (FIVE) Trial. Plast Reconstr Surg. 2021 Apr 1;147(4):947-958. doi: 10.1097/PRS.0000000000007780. PMID: 33761517.
Primary source: Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
