Clinical observation of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia

Objective: To explore the treatment of heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) in venous thromboembolism. Method: A total of 202 patients with venous thromboembolism without anticoagulation contraindications were enrolled. All of them were treated with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) and/or unfractionated heparin (UFH). The peripheral blood cells were examined regularly. Result: HIT occurred in 6 patients. And argatroban was used to treat HIT. The overall incidence rate of HIT in this study was 2.97%. The time of occurrence of HIT was about Days 3-9 after using heparin. The platelet recovered to the basic level at Days 3-7 after withdrawing heparin and initiating argatroban. Conclusion: The count of platelet should be measured in the patients receiving regular LMWH and/or UFH therapy. And the above regimen should be discontinued timely when the platelet count declined progressively by over 50%. Argatroban was effective.