Anticoagulant treatment
Hospital o serveis complementaris relacionats
General Hospital
Description
There are different types of anticoagulants: injectable or oral.
- Injectable: low molecular weight or unfractionated heparin. Should be started at therapeutic doses as soon as thrombosis is suspected, even before the diagnosis is confirmed, or as prophylaxis (prevention), at prophylactic doses, when the person has one or more risk factors that could trigger a venous thromboembolism (such as hip or knee replacement surgery). They are administered at fixed doses according to the patient’s weight, the type of thrombosis being treated or risk factor being controlled.
They are used as maintenance therapy when oral anticoagulants are contraindicated (e.g. pregnancy) or have been ineffective.
- Oral: They are used as maintenance treatment (longer use) and are given on confirmation of the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. There are two types of oral anticoagulants: vitamin K antagonists and direct-acting.
The anticoagulant treatment is controlled with blood tests or capillary blood tests (by pricking the patient's finger). Monitoring of patients on anticoagulant treatment is done by haematology and haemotherapy specialists.
García-Dorado García
Bellmunt Montoya
Álvarez Sabín
Ruiz Alcaraz
Salvador Lodosa
Gámez
Almirall Bernabé
Salvadó
Torrents Fernández
Cortés Hernández
Dominguez Gonzalez
Torres Ferrús
de Fàbregues