Indian study indicates right dose of anticoagulant to treat Covid patients

The findings from the study published in the reputed NEJM Evidence, have the potential to bring about changes to the existing treatment guidelines with regard to optimal dosing of anticoagulants.

Hyderabad: A study on Indian Covid patients taken up by a group of researchers has indicated the right dose of blood thinners or anticoagulants, like heparin, that can be administered while treating Covid positive patients.

The findings from the study published on December 10 in the reputed NEJM Evidence (New England Journal Medicine), the digital journal from NEJM group, have the potential to bring about changes to the existing treatment guidelines with regard to optimal dosing of anticoagulants.

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The researchers in the study said, “our findings show that an intermediate level of anticoagulation had an 86 per cent probability of being better than low-dose anticoagulation. A higher therapeutic dose did not show any benefit”.

The study, which was conducted between February 2021 and March, 2022, among 1574 patients out of which 1273 were from India and the rest from Australia, New Zealand and Nepal, is significant because doctors during the pandemic, generously prescribed anticoagulants as Covid infection increased the risk of blood clot formation in various parts of the body’s vascular system.

While the use of anticoagulants was recommended even by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the most effective and safest dose was not known. There were no clear guidelines on the exact dosage that has to be administered to treat the patients.

“The fact that the intermediate dose was better means more patients treated with this regimen were more likely to survive or require organ support at 28 days. Importantly, this approach will save more lives in future once it becomes part of the Indian guidelines and is incorporated into routine practice for the treatment of hospitalised non–critically ill adults with Covid-19,” Prof.Vivekanand Jha, ED, The George Institute for Global Health, India, who was also part of the study, said.

The study was done to find out the dose that provided the most benefit at the lowest risk.

“It is for this reason that the consortium put together this study. We evolved our approach as new evidence became available. The trial is especially relevant to India as 1273 out of 1526 participants were recruited in Indian hospitals,” Dr Jha pointed out.