European journal of vascular surgery
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The serine proteinase inhibitor, aprotinin, significantly reduces transfusion requirements during open heart surgery. Whether this benefit is associated with an increased tendency to thrombosis has not been studied. We investigated the effect of aprotinin in an experimental arterial thrombosis model. ⋯ Prothrombin times (PT) were 21.9 +/- 3.0 s for control, 29.4 +/- 6.2 s for aprotinin, 40.7 +/- 2.5 s for heparin and 39.9 +/- 14.5 s for heparin + aprotinin (p less than 0.05 vs. control for all values). Bleeding time was not prolonged with aprotinin (3.0 +/- 0.9 min vs. 2.9 +/- 0.7 min). The bleeding time was 18.9 +/- 4.1 min for heparin + aprotinin and 22.5 +/- 2.3 min for heparin alone (p less than 0.05 vs. control for both values).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)