Thromb Haemost 2009; 102(01): 15-24
DOI: 10.1160/TH09-01-0034
Review Article
Schattauer GmbH

Recent developments in topical thrombins

Craig M. Kessler
1   Division of Coagulation, Department of Laboratory Medicine, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
,
Thomas L. Ortel
2   Hemostasis and Thrombosis Center, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA
› Author Affiliations
Financial support: ZymoGenetics, Inc. provided support in the development of the manuscript. The authors had complete intellectual control of the content. The authors have not received any renumeration from ZymoGenetics and they have not been consultants or investigators with ZymoGenetics.
Further Information

Publication History

Received: 14 January 2009

Accepted after minor revision: 13 March 2009

Publication Date:
24 November 2017 (online)

Summary

Managing blood loss is part of the surgeon’s responsibility during surgical procedures, and a variety of therapeutic strategies are available to help accomplish this. Topical haemostatic agents are among the agents used to control surgical bleeding and locally arrest blood flow. Bovine thrombin is a commonly used topical haemostatic agent; however, its use has been associated with potential risks, including well-documented cases of antibodymediated coagulopathy. This coagulopathy develops as a consequence of antibody formation directed against bovine thrombin, other bovine coagulation proteins, and their human orthologs. The fact that a coagulopathy can result in association with the use of bovine plasma-derived thrombin preparations prompted the FDA to require pharmaceutical companies to place a black-box warning in their prescribing information for products containing bovine plasma-derived thrombin. Recently, human plasma-derived thrombin and recombinant human thrombin have been approved by the FDA with the expectation that they will be less immunogenic than the bovine-derived product. In clinical studies, purified human plasma-derived thrombin and recombinant thrombin have demonstrated equivalent efficacy and safety, with improved immunogenicity profiles compared with bovinederived thrombin agents. Well-designed and adequately powered clinical trials should be conducted to indicate whether human thrombin products would improve the risk-benefit and costbenefit profiles for surgeries complicated by excessive bleeding.

 
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