The Effect of Intraoperative Heparin Administered During Total Hip Arthroplasty on the Incidence of Proximal Deep Vein Thrombosis Assessed by Magnetic Resonance Venography

165 patients undergoing unilateral primary THA, who had comorbidity that predisposed them for deep vein thrombosis (DVT), were randomized to receive a single intraoperative injection of heparin or saline. Over a minimum of 3 months, the 2 groups did not differ in the occurrence of pelvic thrombi. There was also no difference between the two groups in the mean size of thrombi, intraoperative blood loss, and post-operative swelling. However, none of the heparin group patients developed an ipsilateral femoral thrombus.The study, therefore, concluded that heparin may prevent ipsilateral femoral thrombi, but not pelvic thrombi.