Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 31, 2026

Rapid Point-of-Care Assay of Enoxaparin Anticoagulant Efficacy in Whole Blood
Published on: October 12, 2012
Low-dose heparin thromboembolism prophylaxis
1Department of Surgery, University of California, Davis, Medical Center, Sacramento, USA.
Objective:
To determine a rational approach to heparin dosing for thromboembolism prophylaxis.
Design:
Literature review.
Results:
Three commonly used heparin dosing regimens were identified: (1) standard low-dose heparin (5000 U administered subcutaneously 2-3 times per day); (2) adjusted-dose heparin (adequate to elevate the activated partial thromboplastin time to 5 seconds above the upper limit of normal); and (3) low-molecular-weight heparin (30 mg subcutaneously twice daily without monitoring).
Conclusions:
Adjusted-dose heparin thromboembolism prophylaxis is both the safest and most reliable method currently available.
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