Complications of small dose prophylactic heparinization.

The observations reported herein on the use of prophylactic small dose heparinization are in no way intended to diminish its value but are reported and reviewed so that certain precautions may be exercised in its use. In fact, the apparent difference in the incidence of pulmonary emboli in the controls and heparinized patients may lend credence to its value. The large controlled series now being studied at various medical centers will help to confirm or deny the value of this factor in the prevention of emboli. Careful preoperative scrutiny of the patient and meticulous intraoperative hemostasis remain important factors when a patient is receiving small dose heparin therapy. Other factors such as concomitant medications, weight of the patient, frequency and technic of administration and dosage must be considered. Additionally, monitoring the hemostatic mechanism with serial hematocrit determinations and laboratory coagulation tests appears to be an important adjunct in small dose prophylactic heparinization.