Safflower Yellow Combined with Low Molecular Weight Heparin in Preventing Deep Vein Thrombosis After Orthopaedic Surgery: A Meta-Analysis and Literature Review.

OBJECTIVE: Deep venous thrombosis (DVT) refers to a clot in a deep vein caused by various reasons. If such a clot becomes dislodged, it can return to the vein and lead to pulmonary embolism (PE), which can cause death in severe cases. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Safflower yellow combined with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) for the prevention of DVT after orthopedic surgery.

METHODS: A comprehensive search of randomized controlled studies (RCTs) of Safflower yellow combined with LMWH for the prevention of DVT after orthopedic surgery was performed in PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, CNKI, VIP, and Wanfang databases from January 2000 to June 2021. Data were extracted for quality evaluation and meta-analysis was performed using RevMan 5.3 software.

RESULTS: A total of 8 RCTs including 624 patients were included. The combination treatment reduced the incidence of DVT compared with the control group; the combination treatment improved the activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and prothrombin time (PT). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of adverse effects.

CONCLUSION: Safflower yellow combined with LMWH can reduce postoperative blood hypercoagulability and prevent DVT formation in lower extremities in orthopedic patients, and achieves better outcomes than LMWH alone in terms of postoperative bleeding tendency.