Tinzaparin reduces health care resource use for anticoagulation in hemodialysis.

Anticoagulation is required during hemodialysis to prevent thrombus formation within the extracorporeal circuit. The low-molecular-weight heparin tinzaparin is more expensive than unfractionated heparin (UFH) in Canada but more convenient to administer. We conducted a time-and-motion study to test the hypothesis that tinzaparin may reduce nursing time and total health care costs compared with UFH.