A comparative study of Dextran 70 and a sulphated polysaccharide in the prevention of postoperative thromboembolic complications.

A prospective randomized study has been performed, comparing a semisynthetic polysulphated xylan of vegetable origin (mol. wt approximately 4000) with Dextran 70 as prophylactic agent against postoperative thromboembolic complications following elective abdominal surgery. A total of 109 patients entered the trial and the analysis after exclusions is based on 86 patients. The overall frequency of 125I-labelled fibrinogen test-detected thrombosis was 2.9 per cent in the polysaccharide group against 19.2 per cent in the Dextran 70 group (P less than 0.05). There was no difference in haemorrhage or different complications.