Management of the anticoagulated patient.
Excessive bleeding or thrombosis is a preeminent concern for all surgeons. Patients may be at risk because of medical therapy, underlying disease, or complications related to both. An understanding of the coagulation cascade--mechanisms and tests of function--permits a rational, if not always complete, basis for a plan of therapy. Newer anticoagulation medications are changing how thrombotic complications, such a VTE or graft occlusion, are treated or prevented. This entire area is undergoing rapid evolution, and the approaches that have been standard for decades soon will be supplanted. Ultimately, however, the most important assessment is made at the bedside by the clinician.
Meissner
Mark H
MH
Department of Vascular Surgery, University of Washington School of Medicine, Harborview Medical Center, 325 9th Avenue, Seattle, WA, 98195, USA.
Karmy-Jones
Riyad
R
D000925:Anticoagulants / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001777:Blood Coagulation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative; D013927:Thrombosis / Q000517:prevention & control*
D000925:Anticoagulants