Background: Patients who undergo percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) receive anticoagulants, most commonly heparin to prevent thrombotic events during the procedure. Opioid addicts may require higher doses of heparin for PCI. We aimed to compare the effect of heparin on activated clotting time (ACT) between opioid addicts and non-addicts prior to and during PCI.Methods: This comparative study included ۱۰۷ patients scheduled for elective PCI, of whom ۵۰ were opioid addicts and ۵۷ non-addicts. Patients’ baseline characteristics including age, gender, weight, comorbidities, drug history, and smoking were recorded. Prothrombin time (PT), partial thromboplastin time (PTT), international normalized ratio (INR), and platelet count were measured in venous blood samples collected from all participants. All patients underwent PCI through femoral access. They received ۱۰۰ IU/kg heparin right at the beginning of the procedure. ACT was measured at ۲ and ۳۰ minutes.Findings: Age, gender, weight, and the amount of heparin used were comparable between groups. As for general characteristics, the number of patients with hyperlipidemia was significantly higher in non-addicts (P = ۰.۰۳۱), and cigarette smoking was higher in opioid addicts (P < ۰.۰۰۱). No significant difference was found between the groups regarding PT, PTT, INR, and platelet count (P > ۰.۰۵۰). ACT at ۲ and ۳۰ min were significantly lower in opioid addicts (P < ۰.۰۰۱). Taking other variables into account, ACT at ۲ min was directly correlated with drug history of aspirin in opioid addicts (P = ۰.۰۳۱) and inversely correlated with cigarette smoking in non-addicts (P = ۰.۰۲۳).Conclusion: Opioid addicts may require higher doses of heparin in PCI for the prevention of thrombotic complications compared to non-addicts.
