Clinical Research Directory

Intermediate Versus Standard Dose Enoxaparin to Prevent Venous Thromboembolism in Severe Trauma Patients: a Multicenter Double Blind Randomised Controlled Trial

Venous thromboembolism is a frequent issue in severe trauma patients. Guidelines for venous thromboembolism prevention include the use of pharmacological thromboprophylaxis, mainly with low-molecular-weight heparin, and/or mechanical thromboprophylaxis. However, a high incidence of venous thromboembolism is observed despite standard dose thromboprophylaxis (such as enoxaparin 40 mg once daily). An increase of the dose of anticoagulants could improve thromboprophylaxis in trauma patients. To date, two randomised trials have assessed the effect of weight-based low-molecular-weight heparin dosing vs. fixed dose in trauma patients. These pilot studies did not demonstrate a statistical difference between groups although there was a trend in favour of a lower incidence of deep vein thromboses with the increased dose low-molecular-weight heparin prophylaxis. However, both studies included non-severe trauma patients and the second study focused only on deep vein thromboses. Other studies suggested that a superior-than-standard dose of low-molecular-weight heparin, sometimes guided by the anti-Xa activity, decreases the incidence of venous thromboembolism in severe trauma without increasing bleeding events, but they were observational in nature. The hypothesis of the HEPTRAUMA trial is that, in severe trauma patients, a thromboprophylaxis with intermediate dose low-molecular-weight heparin (twice the standard dose) decreases the incidence of major venous thromboembolism compared to standard dose.