Safety and economic considerations of argatroban use in critically ill patients: a retrospective analysis

Table 2 Comparison of costs for heparin versus argatroban

	Heparin	Argatroban
Mean dosage/ICU day	21744 IE	49.6 mg
Costs/ICU day	2.17 EUR	37.60 EUR
Total costs before HIT (mean ICU LOS before HIT suspicion = 7.5 days)	16.40 EUR	283.90 EUR
Costs for HIT diagnostics		27.98 EUR (PF4 ELISA)
Costs for HIT diagnostics		52.46 EUR (HIPAA)
PRBC transfusion before HIT suspicion	9.9 units	4.4 units
PRBC total costs before HIT (unit costs = 90 EUR)	900.00 EUR	450.00 EUR
Total costs for anticoagulation and transfusions	916.40 EUR	814.34 EUR
ICU LOS	26	6
Total costs of ICU stay (1050EUR/day)	27.000.00 EUR	6.300.00 EUR

An ICU LOS of 7.5 days and increased RBC transfusion with heparin anticoagulation were assumed. For further details see text.

ISSN: 1749-8090