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Warfarin dosage in postpartum women: a case–control study
Article first published online: 22 DEC 2003
DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2002.00490.x
Issue
1471-0528/asset/cover.gif?v=1&s=b4e1d96c46e18c61210d584b63c13ee375cf562b "BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology")
BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology
Volume 109, Issue 2, pages 187–190, February 2002
Additional Information
How to Cite
Brooks, C., Rutherford, J. M., Gould, J., Ramsay, M. M. and James, D. K. (2002), Warfarin dosage in postpartum women: a case–control study. BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, 109: 187–190. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2002.00490.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 22 DEC 2003
- Article first published online: 22 DEC 2003
- Accepted 10 September 2001
- Abstract
- Article
- References
- Cited By
Objective To investigate the clinical suspicion that postpartum women are more difficult to anticoagulate with warfarin than non-pregnant women due to the physiological changes in coagulation proteins that persist into the postpartum period.
Design A retrospective case–control study.
Setting University Hospital, Nottingham, UK.
Sample Twenty-three postpartum women discharged from the obstetric wards on warfarin and 23 age-matched control women discharged from the medical wards on warfarin were identified using hospital databases.
Methods Warfarin doses and international normalised ratio values were recorded from day one to 35. The number of days and total warfarin dose to achieve therapeutic international normalised ratio were recorded. Doses were compared with those recommended by a dosing nomogram.
Results The postpartum group took significantly longer and significantly larger doses of warfarin to reach therapeutic international normalised ratio (P < 0.05). The postpartum group required a persistently higher maintenance dose of warfarin. Comparing the warfarin dose given on day three with a standardised nomogram, 79% of women in the postpartum group compared with 57% in the control group were under-dosed.
Conclusion Postpartum women require larger doses of warfarin to reach therapeutic international normalised ratio than non-pregnant women. We would recommend the use of a dosing nomogram.