Is Desirudin safe?
Bleeding and antibodies tracked in trials
Bleeding is the main risk, as with any blood thinner. In the enoxaparin comparison, the rates were equal. The kidney clears desirudin. In people with poor kidney function it builds up. They need a lower dose and monitoring of the activated partial thromboplastin time. Hirudin is a foreign protein. Some patients made antibodies to it. Rare cases of anaphylaxis followed a second exposure. That is why the label urges caution in anyone who has had hirudin before. The label also carries a class warning about spinal or epidural haematoma. This risk applies when numbing injections near the spine are used with blood thinners. 21
More on Desirudin
Citations
- Eriksson 1997, N Engl J Med: recombinant hirudin (desirudin) versus enoxaparin to prevent thromboembolism after total hip replacement pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Drugs.com: Iprivask (desirudin), discontinued drugs.com
- Eriksson 1997, J Bone Joint Surg Am: desirudin versus unfractionated heparin after total hip replacement doi.org
Reference information only, not medical advice. Drawn from the Desirudin article, fact-checked against the cited sources. No dosing anywhere on this site.