Heparin is a mucopolysaccharide prepared from ox lung or intestinal mucosa of ox, sheep or pigs. It can be produced physiologically e.g. by basophils and mast cells. It carries a negative charge at a normal pH.
It has a half life of about 1 hour, together with a narrow therapeutic range.
Usually the short half life means that over-coagulation is not life threatening. However, if there is torrential bleeding the effects can be reversed with protamine.
Patients on heparin for more than 5 days should have twice weekly platelet counts to check for heparin-induced thrombocytopaenia.
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