Unihepa Dosage/Direction for Use

Treatment Dosage: Intravenous administration: 5,000 - 10,000 IU every 4 hours or 500 IU/kg bodyweight daily as a continuous infusion in sodium chloride injection or dextrose injection. Doses should be individually adjusted according to coagulation tests.
Subcutaneous administration: The initial dose is 250 IU/kg bodyweight. Further doses should be given every 12 hours and individually adjusted according to coagulation tests.
Dosage adjustment: It is recommended that dosages be adjusted to maintain a thrombin clotting time, whole blood clotting time or activated partial thromboplastin time 1.5 to 2 times that of control on blood withdrawn 4 - 6 hours after the first injection or commencement of infusion and at similar intervals until the patient is stabilised.
Prophylactic Dosage: Administration is by subcutaneous injection.
Patients undergoing major elective surgery: 5,000 IU should be given 2 hours pre-operatively and then every 8 - 12 hours post-operatively for 10 - 14 days or until the patient is ambulant, whichever is the longer.
Following myocardial infarction: 5,000 IU should be given twice daily for 10 days or until the patient is mobile.
Other patients: 5,000 IU should be given every 8 - 12 hours. These standard prophylactic regimens do not require routine control.
Dosage in Children: Treatment Dosage: Standard treatment dosages should be given initially. Subsequent dosages and/or dosage intervals should be individually adjusted according to changes in thrombin clotting time, whole blood clotting time and/or activated partial thromboplastin time.
Dosage in the Elderly: Treatment Dosage: Lower treatment dosages may be required. However, standard treatment dosages should be given initially and then subsequent dosages and/or dosage intervals should be individually adjusted according to changes in thrombin clotting time, whole blood clotting time and/or activated partial thromboplastin time.
Prophylactic Dosage: Dosage alterations are unnecessary for prophylaxis in the elderly.
Pregnancy: Treatment Dosage: Standard treatment dosages should be given initially by continuous intravenous infusion, or every 12 hours by subcutaneous injection. Intermittent intravenous injections are not advised. Subsequent dosages and/or dosage intervals should be individually adjusted according to changes in thrombin clotting time, whole blood clotting time and/or activated partial thromboplastin time.
Prophylactic Dosage: It is recommended that plasma heparin levels be maintained below 0.4 IU/ml as determined by specific anti-Xa assay. A suggested dosage is 5,000 IU every 12 hours in early pregnancy increasing to 10,000 IU every 12 hours in the last trimester. The dosage should be reduced during labour and the standard prophylactic dosage is suitable in the puerperium.
Route of Administration: For intermittent i.v. injection or i.v. infusion or deep s.c. injection.