LATEST
Reducing treatment dose errors with low molecular weight heparins - Rapid Response Report
The recommendations in this Rapid Response Report (RRR) relate to all healthcare sectors and specialties where the prescribing, administration, monitoring and dispensing of treatment doses of LMWHs occur. The use of treatment doses in the community is becoming more commonplace making this relevant to a range of staff and settings.
To see the full Rapid Response Report please click here.
National Patient Safety Agency 2010
PSM Registry
As more people undertake self- monitoring or self management of their oral anticoagulation it is important to ensure that therapeutic control is maintained. An electronic central register could provide a valuable tool for studying the safety and effectiveness of this method of service delivery. This study will evaluate the feasibility of people who self monitor or self manage entering their data onto a website to produce such a register. We will begin recruiting people to the study shortly and will give a further update then.
For further information about this study please contact Jenny Baker here
Interactions Between Herbal Medicines and Prescribed Drugs
"The concomitant use of herbal medicines and pharmacotherapy is wide spread. We have reviewed the literature to determine the possible interactions bewteen seven popular herbal medicines (ginkgo, St John's wort, ginseng, garlic, echinacea, saw plametto and kava) an convential drugs."
Izzo AA, Ernst E.
Interactions between herbal medicines and prescribed drugs: an updated systematic review.
Drugs. 2009;69(13):1777-98
Diagnosis and managment of the antiphospholipid syndrome
"Antiphospholipid syndrome was first described 27 years ago in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and positive anticardiolipin antibodies, who presented with a clotting syndrome that affected arteries and veins. Female patients had a high risk of recurrent miscarriage and late fetal loss. The international classification criteria for this syndrome used today are based on those initial clinical observations."
Danielle Cohen, research fellow, Stefan P Berger, nephrologist, Gerda M Steup-Beekman, rheumatologist, internist, Kitty W M Bloemenkamp, maternal fetal medicine specialist, Ingeborg M Bajema, pathologist
Clinical Review - Diagnosis and management of the antiphospholipid syndrome
BMJ 2010;340:c2541
Practical management of coagulopathy associated with warfarin
"When choosing a management strategy for a patient who is being treated with a vitamin K antagonist and presents with an INR outside the therapeutic range, consider the risk of both bleeding and thrombosis"
RE:LY Dabigatran AF study concludes...
"In patients with atrial fibrillation, dabigatran given at a dose of 110 mg was associated with rates of stroke and systemic embolism that were similar to those associated with warfarin, as well as lower rates of major hemorrhage. Dabigatran administered at a dose of 150 mg, as compared with warfarin, was associated with lower rates of stroke and systemic embolism but similar rates of major hemorrhage."
Anticoagulation in Practice 2010
The Fourth Joint Scientific Meeting of The Anticoagulation Working Party of the PCCS, Anticoagulation Specialist Association, Anticoagulation Europe and Clinical Leaders of Thrombosis.
General Practitioners, Practice Nurses, Biomedical Scientists, Pharmacists and Patients are all invited to attend Anticoagulation in Practice 2010 at the Wolfson Centre, a state of the art conference facility within the Medical School of University of Birmingham. Event details...
National Pharmacy Association SOP for supplying
anticoagulant therapy
The NPA has produced a new standard operating procedure (SOP) for the supply of anticoagulant therapy. The document provides details of the National Patient Safety Agency (NPSA) patient alert “NPSA Alert 18 - Actions that can make Anticoagulant Therapy Safer”.
The SOP is freely available for download from the NPA website
Good news for hip and knee surgery patients
On March 18, 2008, the European Medicines Agency granted marketing authorisation for dabigatran. The National Health Service have authorised the use of Pradaxa (developed by pharmaceutical company Boehringer-Ingelheim) for use in preventing venous embolism in patients who have undergone orthopaedic surgery.
NOTE: This site is a source of information, links & references. It is NOT a helpline. Patients with questions regarding anticoagulant treatment, please contact your doctor.
If you would like to comment on the site or make suggestions on how the site could be improved please email us with your ideas.