How do anticoagulants work?
prevent clots from forming and to keep existing clots from becoming larger; they DO NOT break down clots
What 3 main factors contribute to thrombosis (blood clots) forming (Virchow’s triad)?
What conditions are anticoagulants used to prevent?
What conditions are anticoagulants used to treat?
Where do blood clots form?
anywhere in the body
When do blood clots become dangerous?
when they become an embolus (a clot/ piece of clot that travels somewhere), blocking blood flow to the lungs, heart, or brain
Where are coagulation (clotting) factors made?
liver
Which clotting factors are vitamin K dependent?
II (2)
VII (7)
IX (9)
X (10)
At which factor do the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways meet?
X (10)
What is the outcome of clotting factor activation beginning from either pathway?
activate the next clotting factor in the cascade until fibrin is formed
What is the body’s natural, endogenous anticoagulant?
Antithrombin
Which anticoagulants inhibit the clotting cascade indirectly via antithrombin?
What factors does heparin inhibit?
IIa (thrombin)
Xa
What factors do LMWHs inhibit?
Xa > IIa (thrombin)
Which medications directly inhibit factor Xa?
What is the MOA of warfarin?
vitamin K antagonist; coagulation factors are still made but have reduced coagulation activity
What medications are DOACs (direct-acting oral anticoagulants)?
When is warfarin preferred over DOACs?
What agents directly inhibit thrombin, decreasing the amount of fibrin available for clot formation?
What conditions require more anti-platelet action vs. anticoagulation?
What conditions are fibrinolytics appropriate for?
What is the biggest side effect of anticoagulants?
bleeding
A drop ≥2 g/dL in what lab value could signify internal or external bleeding?
Hemoglobin
What can cause epistaxis (nose bleeds)?