A new drug for deep-vein thrombosis could halve the incidence of clotting following hip surgery, according to research published in this week's issue of the Lancet.
Fondaparinux, the first of a new class of synthetic anti-clotting agents, was compared with the standard treatment, Heparin, in a study of 2,300 patients from 16 European countries undergoing hip replacement surgery.
The results showed that by the 11th day after surgery, deep vein thromboses \ were recorded in 4 per cent of patients given Fondaparinux compared with 9 per cent of those who received Enoxaparin \.
A second study in the Lancet, which looked at 2,275 patients in the US, Canada and Australia who also had hip replacements found a 26 per cent reduction in venous thrombosis among patients given the new drug.
Between 16 and 30 per cent of patients who undergo hip-replacement surgery have a risk of developing DVT even when standard anti-clotting agents are used.
DVT from hip surgery can occasionally result in death if the clot travels from the leg to the lungs causing a pulmonary embolus.
In an accompanying commentary, Prof Henri Bourameux of the University Hospital of Geneva welcomed the findings.
He said: "Improved efficacy and its synthetic nature - compared with heparins that are extracted from animal material - are considerable assets for the new drug."
However, he noted that the side effect of major bleeding was 1 per cent more common with Fondaparinux.
He said: "As with any new drug it should be used cautiously and only in patients who reflect the population of the clinical trials in which the drug was evaluated."