1 From the Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical School, and the Enzyme Research Laboratory and the Georgetown Medical Service, District of Columbia General Hospital, Washington, D.C.
Sixty-two patients with deep thrombophlebitis of less than 10 days' duration were studied in controlled fashion. Thirty "control" patients were treated by routine methods including anticoagulant drugs. Thirty-two "treatment" patients received fibrinolysin (plasmin) in addition to control therapy. The composition of the groups studied and the protocol followed are presented in detail. Comparison of the 2 groups indicates that the addition of fibrinolysin to the therapeutic regimen leads to more rapid clearing of the acute phlebitic episode and may diminish the short-term incidence of phlebitic recurrence and pulmonary embolization. Postphlebitic residuals were encountered with almost equal frequency in both groups. Greater short-term differences in therapeutic response exist between control and fibrinolysin patients when analysis is restricted to
those treated within 5 days of phlebitic onset. The available data do not permit firm conclusions regarding the apparently favorable influence of fibrinolysin upon the long-term prognosis of phlebitic subjects, but do indicate that recurrence and embolization can be expected in both groups. The factors that may influence the results obtained with fibrinolytic therapy are discussed and the importance of considering them in studies of this type is emphasized.
© 1960 American Heart Association, Inc.
Fibrinolysin (Plasmin) Therapy in Acute Deep Thrombophlebitis
A Controlled Study