Give blood thinners to hospitalized COVID-19 sufferers

By On Feb 15, 2021

By Robert Preidt

HealthDay reporter

FRIDAY, February 12, 2021 (HealthDay News) – If COVID-19 patients are given blood thinners shortly after their hospital stay, it may reduce the risk of death.

That’s the finding of a new study that analyzed US Department of Veterans’s data on nearly 4,300 patients, mean age 68, who were hospitalized with COVID between March 1 and July 31.

Of these, more than 84% received blood thinners within 24 hours of ingestion – a step known as prophylactic anticoagulation.

In the 30 days after admission, the overall mortality rate was 14.5%.

The mortality rate was 14.3% in patients who received blood thinners and 18.7% in those who did not.

The benefit appeared to be greater in patients who were not admitted to the ICU within 24 hours of hospitalization.

The researchers said they considered other potentially important factors such as the patient’s age, ethnicity, underlying health conditions, drug history, weight, and tobacco use of the patients.

According to the team led by Christopher Rentsch, an assistant professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in England, patients who were given blood thinners were no greater risk of serious bleeding than those who were not given blood thinners. The results were published on February 11 in the BMJ.

Some COVID-19 deaths are thought to be caused by blood clots in the main arteries and veins. Blood thinners prevent clots and have antiviral and possibly anti-inflammatory properties.

Clinical studies are being conducted to determine whether prophylactic anticoagulation could be an effective treatment for COVID-19.

Until the results of these studies are available, the results of this study “provide strong real-world evidence to support guidelines recommending the use of prophylactic anticoagulation as the first-line treatment for patients with COVID-19 at hospitalization,” Rentsch and colleagues said in a press release in a magazine.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more about COVID-19.

SOURCE: BMJ, press release, February 11, 2021

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