Randomised Controlled Trial for Efficacy of Unfractionated Heparin (UFH) Versus Low Molecular Weight Heparin (LMWH) in Thrombo-Prophylaxis

Results : The result based on intention to treat (ITT) analysis with best outcome scenario: in the UFH arm there were 47 (97.9%) patients who had not developed DVT/PE as compared to 42 (95.5%) in the LMWH arm. The difference in proportion of patients who had not developed DVT/PE between UFH and LMWH was 2.4% (-5.0, 9.8). The results based on per protocol analysis : In the UFH arm there were 44 (97.8%) patients who had not developed DVT/PE as compared to 39 (95.1%) in the LMWH arm. The difference in proportion of patients who had not developed DVT/PE between the UFH and LMWH arm was 2.7% (-5.2, 10.5). Patients on UFH had higher major bleeding complications 4 (8.9%) as compared to 0 in LMWH arm. But with respect to other complications like thrombocytopenia (HIT ) and mild or minimal bleeding both arms were comparable. Conclusion : This study has demonstrated that low dose UFH is as effective as LMWH as a prophylactic agent for venous thromboembolism in medically ill patients and economical also.