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| health information | health news

Stop the clots - new drug set to save lives

24 April 2008

Key facts

Blood clots most commonly form in the deep veins of the legs or pelvis. This is known as deep vein thrombosis (DVT).
DVT can be dangerous if the clot or part of the clot travels through the blood to the lungs. This can block the arteries that supply them (pulmonary embolism).
The risk of DVT is not very high, but can be increased by certain factors including periods of immobility, such as after major surgery, or if you have had a heart attack or stroke.
About 25,000 people die each year in England and Wales as a result of blood clots. This is nearly three times as many as those who die from the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and more than the combined number of people who die from breast cancer, traffic accidents and HIV/AIDS.

Pradaxa is safe and just as effective as the injectables, and patients can take it themselves without needing constant monitoring

Professor Simon Frostick, University of Liverpool

A newly licensed drug could reduce the number of people who develop blood clots after having surgery.

The anticoagulant medicine, dabigatran etexilate (Pradaxa), will be offered to some people who have a hip or knee replacement. These people are particularly at risk of developing a blood clot after surgery. This is because a vein wall may be damaged during the operation and because patients can't move around much or very easily immediately afterwards.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has produced guidelines to assess the risk of developing a blood clot for anyone admitted to hospital for surgery. This includes offering anticoagulant drugs to people having orthopaedic surgery (surgery to treat conditions affecting the bones, joints, muscles and ligaments). Anticoagulants work by thinning the blood, making it less likely to clot. There are a number of other similar drugs available at the moment. However, these must either be injected or require patients to have daily blood tests.

Professor Simon Frostick from the University of Liverpool, who has researched the effectiveness of the drug, told Bupa's health information team: "This is important because it's the first oral anticoagulant since warfarin, a drug which has lots of disadvantages. Pradaxa is safe and just as effective as the injectables, and patients can take it themselves without needing constant monitoring."

Clinical trials are currently taking place to investigate the possibility of using the drug for other conditions, especially those affecting the heart.

Professor Frostick commented: "It's hoped that in the future this drug can be used to prevent and treat other conditions such as irregular heart rhythms, ischaemic heart disease and deep vein thrombosis."