A Prospective, Multi-Center Phase I Study of Postoperative Enoxaparin Treatment in Patients Undergoing Curative Hepatobiliary-Pancreatic Surgery for Malignancies

Abstract

Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is one of the critical complications that can occur after surgery. A positive association between cancer and VTE risk is well established; however, the safety and efficacy of VTE prophylaxis have not been established in hepatobiliary-pancreatic surgery, especially in surgery for malignancies. Methods: A prospective, multi-center Phase I study to determine the safety of enoxaparin was performed. Subcutaneous injection of enoxaparin was initiated 48–72 h after surgery and repeated for 8 days. The primary endpoint was the incidence of bleeding events. This study was registered with the University Hospital Medical Information Network Clinical Trials Registry (UMIN000007761). Results: A total of 154 patients was registered and 133 patients including 74 hepatectomies and 35 pancreaticoduodenectomies were analyzed. Three patients (2.3%) exhibited major bleeding events postoperatively, while 7 (5.2%) had minor bleeding. No Symptomatic VTE was observed. Conclusions: Our study indicated that enoxaparin was well tolerated and safe for patients who received hepatobiliary-pancreatic surgery for malignancies.