LMW HEPARIN IS "MOST COST EFFECTIVE ANTI-DVT DRUG"

Low molecular weight heparin is the most cost-effective drug for use in general prophylaxis of thromboembolism in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery, according to Michael Lassen, of the department of orthopedics at Aalborg Hospital, Denmark, speaking at the New Horizons in the Prevention of Surgical Thromboembolism meeting in London last month (Marketletter May 30).

With cost containment pressures in many western markets becoming a major issue in the selection of pharmaceuticals in many disease areas it is important not only to clinicians, but also to providers to show that a treatment is cost effective as well as effective. Based on collected clinical evidence, for many surgeons LMW heparin is now the recommended choice as the most effective prophylactic drug to prevent post-operative thromboembolic complications in orthopedic patients. However, LMW heparin is also more expensive than the other drugs widely used in these indications, dextran and unfractionated heparin. The difference in price between unfractionated heparin and LMW heparin ranges between a ratio of 1.125 and 7.4 (this is most pronounced in the USA where only one LMW heparin is available).

It has also been shown, said Dr Lassen, that general prophylaxis is more cost effective than secondary prevention (screening of all patients and treatment of actual cases).