[Prevention of thromboembolism in trauma surgery by dose adjustment of low molecular weight heparin depending on levels of TAT and D-dimer].

Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is reported in up to 40% of trauma patients. The individual risk is nearly unpredictable. A daily single dose of a low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) was administered as prophylaxis to 518 trauma patients who were examined preoperatively and up to 10 days postoperatively in a prospective study. They were divided into two groups: group I comprised surgery of the hip and femur as well as total knee replacement and group II knee and lower leg surgery. Thrombin-antithrombin complex and D-dimer were analyzed. A second daily dose of LMWH was added if D-dimer exceeded the cutoff. If ultrasound was suspicious for DVT venography was added. Deep vein thrombosis was seen in five cases (group I=4, group II=1), without pulmonary embolism. TAT and D-dimer were significantly higher in group I than in group II ( p<0.005). One hundred patients, 79 of them belonging to group I, were treated with a second dose of LMWH. The daily cutoff had the highest sensitivity and specificity for day 4. Due to individual monitoring of coagulation markers, the risk for thromboembolism compared to actual data in the literature seems to be reduced.