Coagulation is the process by which a liquid changes to a semi-solid mass or a gel. When a cut occurs on our body with bleeding, with a little pressure and bandaging of the wound bleedings stop. Here clotting factors in the blood become active and change the liquid blood into a gel (clot). When the wound is healed and the clot is no longer needed, the body gradually reabsorbs the clot. This is blood clotting. It is an important process that prevents excessive bleeding from an injury, but if the body does not reabsorb the clot it becomes life-threatening. As long ago as 1800s German Pathologist Rudolf Vichow observed that, “a harmful clot in the blood is formed from the interaction of reduced blood flow, blood vessel injury and/or a change in the blood itself making it easier for a harmful clot to form”.
ANTICOAGULATION THERAPY is a course of drug therapy in which anticoagulant medications are administered to a patient to slow the rate at which the patient’s blood clots. The conditions for which anticoagulation therapy is prescribed are atrial fibrillation , deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism and mechanical heart valve replacement.
Atrial fibrillation is common heart disease, In this condition, the top two chambers of the heart, the atria, beat irregularly and rapidly. They may contract as much as 350-400 times a minute compared with the normal 60-100 times a minute. Because of these rapid irregular beats, blood does not completely empty out of the atrium during a contraction. This can cause pooling of the blood.
Deep vein thrombosis is a condition in which blood clots form in the deep blood vessels of the legs and groins. The blood clots can block the flow of the blood from the legs back to the heart.
Pulmonary embolism is a condition in which the blood stream carries a piece of blood clot from another location to a vessel in the lungs.
Mechanical heart valve replacement, the body may form clots around the new valve because it views the valve as a threat, which puts the patient at risk.
