This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Thrombolysis  • Venous Thromboembolism  • Alert me on articles by topic

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

In reply

My colleagues and I read with interest the comments of Dr Nurmohamed about the PENTHIFRA-Plus study.¹ The importance of the duration of fondaparinux prophylaxis after major orthopedic surgery was first suggested in 4 previous short-term trials, since the efficacy of fondaparinux in preventing VTE was significantly related to the duration of its postoperative administration.² Furthermore, in the 1-week PENTHIFRA trial in patients undergoing hip fracture surgery, 58.5% of fondaparinux-treated patients in whom a thromboembolic event did not occur received prolonged thromboprophylaxis with the investigators' choice of anticoagulant during follow-up.³ The PENTHIFRA-Plus study was the first trial to evaluate the benefit of extended thromboprophylaxis after hip fracture surgery. The incidence of VTE after 4-week fondaparinux therapy was therefore assumed on the basis of 2 previous long-term prophylaxis trials studying a low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) in a lower-risk group of patients undergoing elective hip replacement surgery.^4-5 In the first of these . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Bengt I. Eriksson, MD, PhD
Göteborg, Sweden

RELATED ARTICLE

Fondaparinux and Prolonged Thromboprophylaxis After Hip Fracture Surgery
Michael T. Nurmohamed
Arch Intern Med. 2003;163(22):2789.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT