Combo Therapy for Blood Clots Effective

Leg compression combined with medication such as heparin is more effective at preventing blood clots than either alone, U.S. researchers said.

Deep vein thrombosis — that causes severe leg swelling and ulcers — can be fatal if the clot breaks free and travels to the lungs as a pulmonary embolism.

By analyzing data from 11 trials involving 7,431 patients, Stavros Kakkos of the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit found that a combined approach to prevention reduced the risk of deep vein thrombosis from 4 in 100 to less than 1 in 100 when compared to anticoagulants — blood thinners — alone.

The study, published in the Cochrane Library, said that when compared to compression alone, deep vein thrombosis risk was reduced from 4 in 100 to 1 in 100.

“Our results support guidelines that already recommend the combined use of medication and leg compression to prevent deep vein blood clots,” Kakkos said in a statement.

However, there is still some uncertainty as to whether the combined approach reduces a patient’s risk of a life-threatening pulmonary embolism caused by a clot traveling to the lungs.

“We urgently need more studies to find out whether combined preventative approaches are also useful in preventing pulmonary embolism,” Kakkos said.