The venous side: current directions in anticoagulant therapy

The past 10 years have seen dramatic changes in how we treat deep vein thrombosis (DVT). A decade ago, we would treat patients for 5 days with intravenous heparin and then start warfarin sodium therapy and continue administering both anticoagulants for another 5 to 7 days. In the early 1990s, we started warfarin therapy at the same time heparin was begun and decreased the hospital stay from 10 to 14 days to 5 to 7 days. With the development of low-molecular-weight heparin and the approval for use as outpatient treatment, patients are now spending 1 to 2 days in the hospital, and many times, they are not admitted. A case scenario (in italics) is integrated into this review to illustrate the cost-effective application of an evidence-based approach.