Anticoagulant Medications
Anticoagulant Medications
Cherie Hubbard
St. Petersburg College
Anticoagulant Medications As our population ages, patients are living longer as a result of advances in medical technology, surgical procedures, and drug development(Bressler MD & Bahl PhD, 2003). The average older person is taking two to five prescription medications daily and one in five of this age group has a medication related hospitalization annually (McLean & LeCouteur, 2004). In my eighteen years of nursing, I have taken care of many patients being treated with anticoagulant medications for various reasons, and I have found that most of these patients are not educated about the risks, benefits, and adverse reactions associated with anticoagulants. In this paper, I will focus on Warfarin (Coumadin) the most commonly prescribed anticoagulant. I will discuss the mechanism of Warfarin in the body, therapeutic uses, monitoring treatment, and adverse reactions. I will also explain the therapeutic effects, risks, and benefits of taking Warfarin in a patient that has a mechanical heart valve. “Anticoagulants are drugs that reduce formation of fibrin”(Lehne, 2010, p. 597). The first anticoagulant used to prevent clotting during open-heart surgery in individuals with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) was heparin (Kee & Hayes, 2003). Heparin works by binding with antithrombin III causing inactivation of thrombin. When thrombin is inactivated, the conversion of fibrin to fibrinogen does not take place, preventing clot formation (Kee & Hayes, 2003). Low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWH) are the most commonly used heparin therapy. They are derivatives of the standard heparin, but they have a lower risk for bleeding (Kee & Hayes, 2003). There are five low-molecular-weight heparins namely enoxaparin sodium, dalteparin sodium, ardeparin, danaparoid, and tinzaparin sodium (Kee & Hayes, 2003). Oral anticoagulants are also widely used today. Examples of these are
Cherie Hubbard
St. Petersburg College
Anticoagulant Medications As our population ages, patients are living longer as a result of advances in medical technology, surgical procedures, and drug development(Bressler MD & Bahl PhD, 2003). The average older person is taking two to five prescription medications daily and one in five of this age group has a medication related hospitalization annually (McLean & LeCouteur, 2004). In my eighteen years of nursing, I have taken care of many patients being treated with anticoagulant medications for various reasons, and I have found that most of these patients are not educated about the risks, benefits, and adverse reactions associated with anticoagulants. In this paper, I will focus on Warfarin (Coumadin) the most commonly prescribed anticoagulant. I will discuss the mechanism of Warfarin in the body, therapeutic uses, monitoring treatment, and adverse reactions. I will also explain the therapeutic effects, risks, and benefits of taking Warfarin in a patient that has a mechanical heart valve. “Anticoagulants are drugs that reduce formation of fibrin”(Lehne, 2010, p. 597). The first anticoagulant used to prevent clotting during open-heart surgery in individuals with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) was heparin (Kee & Hayes, 2003). Heparin works by binding with antithrombin III causing inactivation of thrombin. When thrombin is inactivated, the conversion of fibrin to fibrinogen does not take place, preventing clot formation (Kee & Hayes, 2003). Low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWH) are the most commonly used heparin therapy. They are derivatives of the standard heparin, but they have a lower risk for bleeding (Kee & Hayes, 2003). There are five low-molecular-weight heparins namely enoxaparin sodium, dalteparin sodium, ardeparin, danaparoid, and tinzaparin sodium (Kee & Hayes, 2003). Oral anticoagulants are also widely used today. Examples of these are
References: Bressler MD, R., & Bahl PhD, J. J. (2003). Principles of Drug Therapy for the Elderly Patient []. Mayo Clinic Proceedings, 78, 1564-1577. Retrieved from www.mayoclinic.com Kee, J., & Hayes, E. (2003). . In Pharmacology: A Nursing Process Approach (5th ed., ). Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier Science Ltd. Lehne, R. A. (2010). . In Pharmacology for Nursing Care (7th ed ). St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders Elsevier. McLean, A. J., & Le Couteur, D. G. (2004). Aging Biology and Geriatric Clinical Pharmacology Pharmalogical Reviews, 56(2), 163-184. http://pharmrev.aspetjournals.org/content/56/2/163.full MedicineNet. (n.d.). http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=11826 Mosby’s Dictionary of Medicine, Nursing, & Health Professionals. (2009). In Anticoagulant (8th ed.). St. Louis, Missouri: Mosby Elsevier. Parks, R. (2009). Anticoagulants: Vitamin K and your diet. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/eating-a-steady-amount-of-vitamin-k-when-you-take-warfarin-coumadin Wikipedia. (n.d.). In Mechanical Heart Valves. Retrieved November 26, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_valve#Mechanical_valves