Findings from a study conducted in Norway and published in the Feb. 9 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine shed doubt on the efficacy of administration of low-molecular-weight heparin for thromboprophylaxis following knee arthroscopy or lower leg casting. 

The authors conducted two parallel, pragmatic, multicenter, randomized, controlled, open-label trials with blinded outcome evaluation. In the first trial, 1,541 knee arthroscopy patients were randomized to receive 8 days of either low-molecular-weight heparin or placebo following arthroscopy. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) occurred in 5 of 731 patients (0.7 percent) in the treatment group and in 3 of 720 patients (0.4 percent) in the control group. In the second trial, 1,435 patients treated with casting of the lower leg were randomized to receive low-molecular-weight heparin or placebo during the full period of immobilization. VTE occurred in 10 of 719 patients (1.4 percent) in the treatment group and in 13 of 716 patients (1.8 percent) in the control group. Learn more...