Table 1.

Main characteristics of the included studies

Study ID	Mean age (years)	Country origin	Subjects, number (NS/HS)	Female (%)	Centre	ICUs	Disease types	Follow up (days)	Heparin concentration (IU/ml)	Heparin volume (ml)
Rabe 2002 [13]	59.25	Germany	33/33	63.64	S	Y	Multi-disease	20	5000	0.5
Kaneko 2004 [28]	68.43	Japan	26/22	50.00	S	N	Nephropathy	48	1000	2
Pumarola 2007 [6]	52.27	Spain	57/38	31.60	M	Y	Multi-disease	3	100	5
Bowers 2008 [32]	54.36	USA	50/52	50.00	S	N	Multi-disease	10.3	100	3
Schallom 2012 [2]	58.69	USA	150/145	48.81	S	Y	Multi-disease	14	10	3
Goossens 2013 [26]	55.81	Belgium	404/398	65.34	S	N	Cancer patients	180	100	3
Beigi 2014 [29]	63.1	Iran	49/47	45.83	S	N	Multi-disease	1	100	…
Lyons 2014 [31]	52	USA	28/30	40	H	N	Multi-disease	23	10	5
Lyons 2014 [31]	52	USA	28/32	40	H	N	Multi-disease	23	100	3
Molin 2015 [27]	62.69	Italy	203/212	53.49	M	N	Cancer patients	400	50	5
Ziyaeifard 2015 [30]	51.6	Iran	50/50	31.00	S	Y	Cardiac surgery	3	10	5

S single-centre study, M multi-centre study, H home care patient, Y yes, N no