Bleeding in Spinal Column from Lovenox Use: FDA Update

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Bleeding in Spinal Column from Lovenox Use: FDA Update

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released a Safety Announcement including updated recommendations to decrease risk of spinal column bleeding and paralysis in patients on low molecular weight haprins.

The agency is recommending that health care professionals carefully consider the timing of spinal catheter placement and removal in patients taking anticoagulant drugs, such as enoxaparin, and delay dosing of anticoagulant medications for some time interval after catheter removal to decrease the risk of spinal column bleeding and subsequent paralysis after spinal injections, including epidural procedures and lumbar punctures. These new timing recommendations, which can decrease the risk of epidural or spinal hematoma, will be added to the labels of anticoagulant drugs known as low molecular weight heparins, including Lovenox and generic enoxaparin products and similar products.

To reduce the potential risk of bleeding, the FDA recommends that both the dose and the elimination half-life of the anticoagulant be comsidered.

For enoxaparin, placement or removal of a spinal catheter should be delayed for at least 12 hours after administration of prophylactic doses such as those used for prevention of deep vein thrombosis. Longer delays (24 hours) are appropriate to consider for patients receiving higher therapeutic doses of enoxaparin (1 mg/kg twice daily or 1.5 mg/kg once daily).
A postprocedure dose of enoxaparin should usually be given no sooner than 4 hours after catheter removal.
In all cases, a benefit-risk assessment should consider both the risk for thrombosis and the risk for bleeding in the context of the procedure and patient risk factors.

The FDA states that it is important to note that all anticoagulants carry the risk of causing spinal bleeding when used in conjunction with epidural/spinal anesthesia or spinal puncture. We are continuing to evaluate the safety of other anticoagulants to determine if additional label changes are needed.

View the full FDA Safety Communication here.

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