Anticoagulation Therapy

Anticoagulation Therapy

April, 2013

Literature Review

Farlex defines anticoagulation therapy, or anticoagulant therapy, as the therapeutic use of anticoagulants to hamper the formation of clots in the arteries or veins of the human cardiovascular system. While the main purpose of these drugs is mainly preventive, they also carry the ability to destroy or break up an existing clot which will then improve the area of the body that way effected (Farlex, 2002).

Anticoagulants are sometimes referred to as “blood thinners.” This is a bit erroneous, as the drugs do not thin the blood; they just inhibit the formation of clotting agents so that the blood cannot clot as easily. This treatment is used when a patient is at risk of health problems due to clots. In atrial fibrillation, for example, pooled blood in the heart can clot, which can be dangerous. In mechanical heart valve replacement, the body may form clots around the new valve because it views the valve as a threat, which puts the patient at risk. Patients with existing clots may be put on anticoagulant therapy to prevent the clotting from getting worse, as seen in pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis. In the case of a DVT a clot has already formed in one of the deep veins most often of the lower extremities. The object of the medication is to prevent further build up or new clots from forming now that the patient is susceptible to the ailment (Smith & Wallace, 2003).

Anticoagulants themselves are the product of pharmaceutical companies and are not found naturally in the human body as with leeches or other blood sucking insects. There are two main types of blood thinners. Anticoagulants, such as Warfarin or Dabigatran, work on chemical reactions in your body to lengthen the time it takes to form a blood clot. Antiplatelet drugs, such as aspirin, prevent blood cells called platelets from clumping together to form a clot (Medline Plus, 2012).

Diagnoses

Atrial Fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation, the most common cardiac arrhythmia in adults and the elderly, occurs in response to a countless number of conditions. As populations age the number of cases of atrial fibrillation grow in direct proportion. While the number of cases of atrial fibrillation, or A-fib, is increasing with the growing population it is still uncommon to find it in infants or children. A-fib may not cause any symptoms at all but it is very often associated with palpitations, syncope and collapse, chest pain or pressure and congestive heart failure (Runge & Ohman, 2004).

According to Issa, Miller and Zipes atrial fibrillation increases the risk of stroke. The rate of stroke risk can be seven times that of the average poplutation, depending of course