Combination of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Low-Molecular-Weight HeparinPrevents Deep Vein Thrombosis After Surgery: A Meta-Analysis

摘要

At present, there is no consistent understanding of the effect of traditional Chinesemedicine (TCM) prescription in the prevention of the deep vein thrombosis (DVT), thoughTCM has been widely used in China. To evaluate the efficacy of TCM prescription combinedwith low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) for preventing DVT after major orthopedicssurgery. All the retrieved articles were evaluated using specific inclusion and exclusioncriteria. Then, data were extracted and evaluated for inclusion in a randomized controlledtrial. In this study, variables included relative risk (RR), mean difference (MD), andtheir corresponding 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). Overall, 16 articles were includedwith 1538 patients, 768 in the combination group (combination of TCM prescription andLMWH) and 770 in the LMWH group. The results indicated that in the combination group, theincidence of DVT (RR: 0.34, 95% CI: 0.23-0.50, < .00001) and -dimer levels (standardized mean difference: −1.19, 95% CI: −1.80 to −0.58, = .0001) was significantly lower than that in the LMWH group.Furthermore, the combination treatment obviously decreased the concentration of fibrinogen(MD: −1.19, 95% CI: −2.13 to −0.25, = .01). The combination of TCMprescription and LMWH could significantly reduce the incidence of DVT, suggesting that itmay be a more effective prophylaxis measure for DVT after major orthopedics surgery.