The frequency of echimosis in patients with subcutaneous anticoagulan treatment

Abstract

We evaluated the rate of echimosis in patients with subcutaneous heparin treatment. A descriptive study was performed. The data were recorded in a structured form. The study population consist of hospitalized patients with heparin therapy. Inclusion criteria were: Normal platelet level and patients who had no malign neoplasia or no bleeding and coagulation disorder. There were a total of 100 patient. All data were collected between 01.28 2005-02.19.2005 and they were inserted into the SPSS ver 13.0 computer program. The data were analized by percentage, chi-square, t test and Kruskal-Wallis variance analysis. An echimosis was developed in 82% of patients with heparin treatment. There were a total of 281 echimosis episodes in 100 patients. No significant difference of number and size of echimosis was found according to age groups. The number and size of echimosis in females were significantly more than these in males. It has been shown that the dose of heparin enhanced the size of echimosis. In patients with Ca-heparin, the frequency of echimosis was more than those with Na- heparin.