Risk Stratification for Supratherapeutic Peak Anti-Xa Levels in Adult Patients on Therapeutic Enoxaparin.

BACKGROUND: The American Society of Hematology Guidelines for the management of venous thromboembolism recommend against the use of anti-Xa monitoring for assessing enoxaparin dosing based on a low level of evidence associating supratherapeutic levels with an increased risk of bleeding. However, institutions still utilize anti-Xa levels in select patient populations with altered volume of distribution and/or excretion to monitor and adjust therapy. OBJECTIVE: The primary objective of this study was to identify risk factors associated with supratherapeutic peak anti-Xa levels (≥1.10 IU/mL) for patients receiving therapeutic enoxaparin. METHODS: This was a retrospective single-center study performed at an academic tertiary care hospital. Patients who received enoxaparin at 1 mg/kg twice daily and peak anti-Xa monitoring were separated into supratherapeutic and therapeutic/subtherapeutic cohorts. RESULTS: A total of 436 patients were screened, and 215 were included, with a mean age of 62 years. There were 108 in the therapeutic/subtherapeutic cohort and 107 in the supratherapeutic cohort. Acute kidney injury (AKI), body mass index (BMI), weight, female sex, intensive care unit (ICU) service, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score ≥4, and creatinine clearance at the time of peak anti-Xa level collection were associated with supratherapeutic anti-Xa levels in univariate models. Adjusted logistic regression models were created and identified BMI in the 30 to 34.9 kg/m2 (odds ratio [OR] 4.35; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.70-11.13, P < 0.005) and ≥35 kg/m2 (OR 6.75; 95% CI 3.05-14.94, P < 0.005) and AKI (OR 2.62; 95% CI 1.04-6.62, P = 0.042) as significant risk factors for supratherapeutic anti-Xa levels. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: Our study identified BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2, AKI, female sex, ICU service, SOFA score ≥4, and creatinine clearance as risk factors for supratherapeutic anti-Xa levels in patients receiving 1 mg/kg twice daily dosing of enoxaparin. Further research should be done to provide evidence for the association between anti-Xa levels and bleeding risk.

Sweet and Sour: Impact of Early Glycemic Control on Outcomes in Necrotizing Soft-Tissue Infections.

Background: Necrotizing soft-tissue infection (NSTI) is a devastating disease associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Hyperglycemia is associated with poor wound healing; however, there are no studies evaluating glycemic control outcomes in patients with NSTI. The objective of this study was to examine disease progression and death in patients with NSTI who achieved early glycemic control (EGC) compared with patients that did not. Methods: A retrospective chart review of patients with NSTI was conducted between November 2011 and August 2017. Early glycemic control was defined as a daily average blood glucose concentration ≤150 mg/dL for a minimum of two consecutive days from admission to hospital day three. The primary outcome of this study was a composite of ≤3 debridement procedures by hospital day 14 and survival to discharge. Secondary outcomes were the total number of debridement procedures, amputation, hospital length of stay (LOS), intensive care unit (ICU) LOS, number of hypoglycemic events throughout hospitalization, and discharge disposition. Results: One-hundred five patients were included in the analysis. There were 62% male patients, mean age of 55.3 years, mean weight of 106.9 kg, and 57.1% with diabetes mellitus (DM). The 54 (51.4%) patients with EGC were less likely to have DM (29.6% versus 86.3%; p < 0.001), had a lower median admission glucose concentration (120.5 [97-144] versus 198 [153-295.5] mg/dL; p < 0.001), and had lower median daily glucose values during the first 96 hours after admission (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the primary outcome (83.3%% versus 84.3%; p > 0.99) or incidence of hypoglycemia (14.8% versus 23.5%; p = 0.32). Patients with EGC were more likely to return home after discharge (44.4% versus 23.5%; p = 0.039). Conclusion: Overall, there was no difference in composite clinical outcomes between patients with EGC and those without, although more patients who achieved EGC were discharged home. Patients with DM were less likely to achieve EGC.