Reduction of unfavourable effects of heparin with use of gabexate mesilate in dialysis.

Gabexate mesilate (GM), a potent synthetic proteinase inhibitor has been evaluated as an alternative anticoagulant to heparin for haemodialysis. GM haemodialysis was achieved at a dose of 1,600mg/hr. GM was found to be dialysable and so rapidly degraded that dialysis with GM anticoagulation was analogous to regional heparinisation. Although heparin induced considerable lipolytic activity, GM showed no particular effect on lipids. Some patients reported mild nausea and there was evidence of slight clot formation around the top of the venous drip chamber. GM anticoagulation is easier than the conventional unreliable techniques of regional heparinisation.