August 30, 2017: Unrealized Exposure to Heparin
In a recent newsletter, ISMP (US) discussed the problem of unrealized exposure of patients to heparin-coated medical devices. These devices are most often used during surgery or other interventional procedures, and include certain vascular access catheters, guidewires, grafts, and stents. These devices are manually or commercially coated with heparin to attenuate the normal biologic responses that occur when blood comes into contact with a foreign body (e.g., platelet activation, thrombus formation). Read more ...
