Is Heparin Safe?

Heparin is a prescription injectable medication used to prevent blood clots, which are potentially fatal if allowed to reach your brain, lungs or heart. While heparin poses a risk for serious side effects, these risks are usually outweighed by the benefits of the drug.

Significance

• The most serious risk posed by heparin is that of a sudden hemorrhage, reports RxList.

Types of Hemorrhages

• Hemorrhages from heparin most commonly your adrenal glands, ovaries and abdominal cavity, but can occur anywhere in your body.

Statistics

• While taking heparin, there is only an .8 percent chance each day that you will develop hemorrhages, the most common adverse event associated with heparin, according to an article by Henri Bounameaux and Arnaud Perrier of University Hospitals of Geneva.

Features

• Since heparin is an injectable medication, it is administered in a hospital setting, where you can be closely observed for signs of hemorrhages and promptly treated in the event that bleeding does occur.

Considerations

• If you have a history of asthma, heart infection, hemophilia, heavy menstruation, liver dysfunction or disease, hypertension, stomach ulcers or low blood platelets, it may not be safe for you to be treated with heparin, warns the Mayo Clinic. Heparin is unsafe to take before major surgery and is used with extreme caution during pregnancy.