Bleeding after hip arthroplasty not increased by heparin plus dihydroergotamine

We measured the postoperative bleeding following total hip replacement when low-dose heparin plus dihydroergotamine was used for preventing postoperative deep-venous thrombosis. The patients were allocated by random numbers to either 5,000 IU heparin and 0.5 mg dihydroergotamine injected subcutaneously twice daily or to placebo injections. The mean postoperative bleeding in the anticoagulation group of 91 patients was 583 ml and in the placebo group of 103 patients 529 ml, i.e., there was no difference between the two groups.