Heparin injection dosage: A detailed guide

This article describes heparin injection’s dosages and strengths and gives details on how it’s given. You’ll also find information on cost savings and coupon options for heparin. If you want to know more about heparin injection, see this overview article. It covers details about the drug’s uses, side effects, and more.

Heparin injection is a generic medication. It’s not available in a brand-name version.

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Form and strengths of heparin

Heparin comes in these forms and strengths expressed in units per milliliter (mL):

Dosage of heparin

This article describes the recommended dosages for heparin injection. The drugmaker provides these dosages. In some cases, doctors may adjust your dosage from those shown below.

If your doctor prescribes this medication, you should follow the dosage they prescribe. Your doctor will determine the dosage that best meets your needs. Do not change your dosage of heparin injection without your doctor’s recommendation.

Usual recommended dosages of heparin in adults

Heparin injection is a blood thinner that doctors prescribe to treat and help prevent blood clots. These include conditions such as venous thrombosis (blood clot in your vein), pulmonary embolism (blood clot in your lungs), and peripheral arterial embolism (blood clot that has traveled through your arteries and become stuck).

The dose and route of heparin injection depend on the condition you’re receiving it for. The dose can also depend on your age and body weight.

You can take a heparin injection at home as a subcutaneous injection (an injection under your skin). You’ll receive your first injection at a hospital, and you can take the remaining doses at home yourself.

For certain conditions, heparin injection can also be given as a subcutaneous injection, an intravenous injection (an injection into one of your veins), or an intravenous infusion (an injection into your vein given over time) by a healthcare professional in a hospital or clinic setting. These uses of heparin can include blood thinning during blood transfusions, prevention of blood clots during heart surgeries, and treatment of disseminated intravascular coagulation. But the dosages for these uses aren’t described in this article. To learn more about the dosages for those uses, talk with your doctor.

Dosage for deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism

The recommended dosages of heparin injection to treat deep vein thrombosis (blood clot in a deep vein in your body) and pulmonary embolism (blood clot in your lungs) are:

• Typical starting dosage: 5,000 units injected into one of your veins, followed by 10,000 to 20,000 units of a concentrated heparin solution injected under the skin
• Typical maintenance dosage: 8,000 to 10,000 units of a concentrated heparin solution injected under the skin every 8 hours or 15,000 to 20,000 units of a concentrated heparin solution injected under the skin every 12 hours

Choose a different injection site for each dose to prevent hematomas (blood pooling under your skin).

Dosage for preventing deep vein thrombosis after surgery

The recommended dosage of heparin injection to prevent deep vein thrombosis after surgery is:

• Usual dosage: 5,000 units about 2 hours before your surgery
• Typical maintenance dosage: 5,000 units injected under your skin every 8 to 12 hours for 7 days or till you can walk again

Dosages of heparin in children

Doctors also prescribe heparin injection to treat and prevent blood clots in children. Your child’s doctor will calculate a heparin dose based on several factors, including your child’s condition and medical history.

If you have a newborn or infant, your doctor will typically only prescribe preservative-free heparin. This is because the preservative benzyl alcohol can increase the risk of serious side effects and death in newborns and infants.

Heparin coupon

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Overdose of heparin

It’s important that you do not use more heparin injection than your doctor prescribes. Doing so can lead to harmful effects.

Symptoms of heparin overdose

Symptoms of an overdose can include bleeding.

What to do if you use too much heparin

If you think you’ve used too much heparin, call your doctor or pharmacist right away. Or you could call 800-222-1222 to speak with someone at America’s Poison Centers. You can also use its online resource. If you have severe symptoms, call 911 or a local emergency number immediately. You can also go to the closest emergency room.

Disclaimer: Optum Perks has made every effort to make certain that all information is factually correct, comprehensive, and up to date. However, this article should not be used as a substitute for the knowledge and expertise of a licensed healthcare professional. You should always consult your doctor or another healthcare professional before taking any medication. The drug information contained herein is subject to change and is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. The absence of warnings or other information for a given drug does not indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective, or appropriate for all patients or all specific uses.