Safety of low molecular weight heparin in the treatment of cutaneous lichen planus.

An interventional study was undertaken to assess the safety of low molecular weight heparin in the treatment of lichen planus. Data were collected from the department of Dermatology and Venereology, Combined Military Hospital (CMH), Dhaka, Bangladesh for a period from July 2009 to June 2010. During the data collection period, thirty seven patients of lichen planus were assigned purposively. The mean age of the patients was 36 ± 6.6 years and highest percentage of patients, 21(56.8%) were in between the 30-40 years old, majority of patients 32(86.5%) were male, two thirds of patients 24(64.9%) were married and majority of the patients 29(78.4%) were service holders. It was seen that about half of the patients 18(48.6%) had complaints of itching, maximum 12(32.4%) had involvement of shin area and 21(56.8%) suffered for a duration of 1 to 11 months. The study revealed that 29(78.4%) patients yielded no side effect, while 8(21.6%) developed local irritation 5(62.5%), bruises 2(25.0%) and headache 1(12.5%). The side-effects however disappeared spontaneously without medication. The study suggests that low molecular weight heparin has excellent safety profile for treatment option of cutaneous lichen planus.