title: Ask the doctor. In October 2007, I had three Cypher stents placed in my left anterior descending artery. My doctor told me to take Plavix and aspirin indefinitely. Now I need to have a hernia repaired. My surgeon refuses to operate while I'm taking Plavix and aspirin, and said I would have to stop taking the two drugs five to six days before the operation. My cardiologist says that stopping the Plavix and aspirin, as well as the stress of the operation itself, would throw me into a "hypercoagulable state," greatly increasing my chance of developing a blood clot inside one of the stents. What should I do?
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D001241:Aspirin / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000077144:Clopidogrel; D000075202:Contraindications; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015607:Stents; D013903:Thoracic Surgery; D019851:Thrombophilia / Q000139:chemically induced*; D013988:Ticlopidine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors; D000077144:Clopidogrel; D013988:Ticlopidine; D001241:Aspirin