View clinical trials related to Pulmonary Embolus.
Filter by:The rates of Venous thromboembolism (VTE) after orthopedic surgery are as high as 40-60% without prophylactic measures. Enoxaparin, a low-molecular-weight heparin, produces an anticoagulant effect by binding antithrombin, thereby accelerating antithrombin's inactivation of coagulation factor Xa (FXa), thus decreasing the likelihood of clot formation. Despite standard dosing enoxaparin prophylaxis, VTE rates in post-operative orthopedic trauma patients remain as high as 12.2%.The investigators will examine enoxaparin pharmacokinetics and test whether a clinical protocol for real-time enoxaparin dose adjustment can favorably alter the proportion of patients with in-range anti-Factor Xa (aFXa) levels. Outcomes will include peak and trough steady-state aFXa levels in response to standard and escalated doses of enoxaparin and the incidence of venous thromboembolism and bleeding events post-surgery. In the trauma and orthopaedic populations, patients with low initial aFXa levels are significantly more likely to develop deep venous thrombosis. Thus, this study has important implications for appropriate enoxaparin dose magnitude and frequency, and may ultimately help to decrease the substantial morbidity and mortality associated with post-operative VTE.
Plastic and reconstructive surgeons consistently create large, raw surfaces as part of their operative procedures. Thus, plastic & reconstructive surgery patients are among those at highest risk for anticoagulant-associated bleeding adverse drug events (ADEs). This study seeks to optimize both the safety and effectiveness of post-operative enoxaparin by comparing aFXa levels, bleeding events, and VTE events among plastic & reconstructive surgery patients randomized to receive two different enoxaparin dose regimens.
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) encompasses deep venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolus, and is the proximate cause of death in over 100,000 hospitalized patients per year. This project will critically examine the pharmacokinetics of prophylactic doses of enoxaparin in surgical patients, and will evaluate how alteration of enoxaparin dose magnitude and frequency affects peak and trough aFXa levels as well as risk for re-operative hematoma. If subtherapeutic aFXa levels are observed, the study will design, implement and test a clinical protocol to optimize post-operative aFXa levels. Although not an explicit Aim, this study will also provide important preliminary data on VTE rates in surgical patients with in range and out of range aFXa levels.
Blood clots that form in the extremities (deep venous thrombosis) and lungs (pulmonary embolus) are feared complications of reconstructive surgery. One in ten patients with symptomatic pulmonary embolus will be dead in 60 minutes. Patients with deep venous thrombosis can develop the post-thrombotic syndrome, known to be a major driver of poor quality of life. These phenomena, broadly known as venous thromboembolism (VTE), have substantial downstream ramifications, and the US Surgeon General and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), among others, have underscored the importance of VTE prevention in surgical patients. Reconstructive surgery, most commonly performed to fix traumatic injuries or defects after cancer excision, often involves borrowing tissue from adjacent or distant areas on the body; reconstructive surgery patients can routinely have surgical injury involving 20% or more of their total body surface area. Injury and resultant inflammation are known to increase metabolism of certain drugs, including those used to prevent VTE after surgery. Enoxaparin is a blood-thinning medication that decreases likelihood of blood clot formation. Previous research has shown that reconstructive surgery patients who are given enoxaparin after surgery are less likely to develop VTE. However, despite receiving of a standard dose of enoxaparin, many patients still develop this life-threatening complication. The investigators believe that patients metabolize enoxaparin differently based on the degree of surgical injury created during reconstruction, and seek to critically examine enoxaparin metabolism in reconstructive surgery patients. The proposed research will evaluate how enoxaparin affects the blood based on standard, ASPS-recommended dosing after reconstructive surgeries; the investigators will also examine whether the extent of surgical injury alters metabolism as well. Enoxaparin effectiveness will be tracked using anti-Factor Xa (aFXa) levels. If subtherapeutic aFXa levels are observed, the study will also design, implement and test a clinical enoxaparin dose-adjustment protocol to achieve appropriate post-operative aFXa levels. Further research based on these data will examine reduction in VTE risk when aFXa-driven enoxaparin dosing is used.
Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a leading cause of death among hospitalized patients, and is an important patient safety issue in plastic surgery. Previous work has shown that enoxaparin prophylaxis can prevent many post-operative VTE events, and current American Society of Plastic Surgeons guidelines support enoxaparin prophylaxis for high-risk patients. Highest risk patients often have cancer or trauma reconstruction. Primary outcomes include 1) peak and trough steady-state aFXa levels in response to standard and escalated doses of enoxaparin and 2) the proportion of patients with appropriate aFXa levels pre and post initiation of a clinical protocol for enoxaparin dose adjustment. The investigators expect that standard dosing will result in inadequate aFXa peak and trough levels, and that the clinical dose adjustment protocol will significantly improve the proportion of in-range aFXa levels. The investigators will also develop a linear regression-based equation to calculate, based on patient-level factors, the required dose of enoxaparin to generate in-range aFXa levels. This research may show that the current "one size fits all" approach to enoxaparin prophylaxis is insufficient. In the trauma and orthopaedic populations, patients with low initial aFXa levels are significantly more likely to develop deep venous thrombosis. Thus, this study has important implications for appropriate enoxaparin dose magnitude and frequency, and may ultimately help to decrease the substantial morbidity and mortality associated with post-operative VTE.