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Drug study shows improvement in major orthopedic surgery care
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Researchers have found an ultra-low-molecular weight heparin capable of reducing the incidence of venous thromboembolism in orthopedic surgery patients, according to the results of a large clinical program.
The follow-up analysis of three recently-completed international clinical studies on short-term venous thromboembolism (VTE) protective medicine in patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery demonstrated that the heparin, known as semuloparin, reduced the incidence of VTE and all-cause death by 25% compared to enoxaparin, according to a release.
“This is a potential advance in orthopedic surgery compared to current VTE prophylaxis options,” stated Alexander G. Turpie, MD, in the release.
Study parameters and results
Turpie’s group performed a meta-analysis study on results from 4,479 patients recruited in three orthopedic surgery studies in hip replacement, hip fracture, and knee replacement. The objective of the three studies, the report claims, was to assess once-daily preventative treatment with semuloparin compared to enoxaparin for 7 to 10 days.
The results of the program – titled SAVE – were presented today at the 21st International Congress of Thrombosis in Milan, Italy. Turpie is chairing the steering committee for the SAVE program, which is supported by sanofi-aventis – producer of semuloparin.
The favorable benefit-to-risk profile observed with semuloparin compared to enoxaparin supports the further evaluation of semuloparin as VTE preventative therapy in other areas such as oncology, according to the report. These benefits are currently being investigated in two ongoing phase 3 clinical studies.