A 62-year-old man suddenly experienced difficulty speaking and left-sided weakness. he meets initial criteria for fibrinolytic t
herapy, and a ct scan of the brain is ordered. which best describes the guidelines for antiplatelet and fibrinolytic therapy? would you give heparin if ct clear
The physician attending to this patient had suspected that the patient is suffering from stroke, that was why he ordered fibrinolytic therapy. Fibrinolytic therapy is used to dissolve blood clots which are preventing blood from reaching the brain by activating the plasminogens. The guideline for anti platelets and fibrinolytic therapy recommends that a patient is qualified for fibrinolytic therapy if the CT shows that there is no head bleed. If the patient is qualified for fibrinolytic therapy, you should give him rtPA [tissue plasmogen activator] within 60 minutes of arrival in the hospital. After this, the post rtPA pathway for stroke has to be initiated.Heparin is always given simultaneously with fibrinolytic therapy. If the CT taken is clear, heparin should be given. But, if the patient is bleeding heparin must not be given. rtPA and aspirin [ASA] are mutually exclusive, that is, they can not be administered at the same time. Aspirin should only be given to the patient if the patient is not qualify for fibrinolytic therapy.
