What are the advantages and disadvantages of anticoagulant therapy?
Anticoagulant therapy is a medical treatment used to prevent or treat blood clots, also known as thrombosis. The advantages of anticoagulant therapy include prevention of deep venous thrombosis, pulmonary embolism and stroke. Negative aspects of anticoagulant therapy include an increased risk of bleeding, the costs associated with therapy and the side effects of anticoagulant drugs.
drugs are used in anticoagulant therapy to reduce the risk of blood clot formation. Many people call these blood thinners. A number of drugs are used as anticoagulants, including heparin, warfarin and enoxaparin. All these drugs have unique side effects, benefits, costs and safety profiles. These blood clots often grow in deep leg veins where they can cause localized redness or swelling. However, the real danger of these blood clots comes when Piece clots tears and travels to the lungs. The medical term for this phenomenon is lung embolism and can cause acute shortness of breath, increased rapidlySt. respiration and low blood pressure. Large pulmonary embolism can be life -threatening.
Another for anticoagulant therapy is that it can prevent the formation of thrombosis in the heart. Abnormal heart rhythm known as atrial fibrillation causes patients to be prone to the formation of blood clots in the heart of the heart; The valvular abnormalities of the heart also predestine for the formation of thrombi in the heart. When the pieces of these clots break away, travel to the brain and cause strokes. Blood thinning reduces the risk of creating these dangerous clots.
The largest fitting anticoagulant therapy is that there is an increased risk of bleeding in patients who receive therapy. There may be bleeding external wounds, inside the gastrointestinal tract or in the brain. The risk of bleeding is higher if excessive anticoagulant therapy is administered, or if patients are taking drugs that disrupt anticoagulant drugs. Patients with a non -lineRolled hypertension, a history of easy bleeding, concurrent use of anti -aggregation drugs or who are older than 75, are usually not good candidates for anticoagulant therapy due to their increased risk of bleeding.
Further preservation of anticoagulant therapy is the cost of therapy. Warfarin is considered to be the cheapest option for anticoagulant therapy, but requires regular laboratory work to control the effect that it has on the blood. Heparin is usually available only for use in the hospital. Enoxaparin can be used as an outpatient drug, but has high costs and must be provided as a shot.
Other disadvantages of anticoagulant therapy include specific side effects associated with each anticoagulatemn drug. Warfarin can cause skin necrosis and congenital defects. Heparin can cause a low number of plates in the blood. All drugs are associated with the risk of allergy or anaphylaxis in receptive patients.