Heparin for Pharmacology of Related Drugs- myassignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theHeparin for Pharmacology of Related Drugs. Answer: Heparin is an anticoagulant medication. Anticoagulants are generally referred to as blood thinners and are used to prevent formation of blood clots. Blood clots could be caused by certain medical procedures. It is also used before surgery to minimise the risks of blood clots. Specifically, the drug is used to prevent and treat conditions such as pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis and arterial thromboembolism (Mulloy, Hogwood, Gray, Lever and Page, 2016). This assignment discusses heparin, nursing considerations for heparin, and APTT test and how it is conducted. Nursing considerations for heparin Close monitoring is necessary when dealing with heparin since it has a narrow therapeutic index. This means that small dose variations may lead to therapeutic failures or cause adverse drug reactions. Heparin could also pose an increased risk for bleeding hence the need for the nurse to be very careful. Another consideration that should be made is that there is potential for heparin-induced thrombocytopenia. APTT test Activated Partial Thromboplastin Clotting Time is a test that is used to measure the time it takes for formation of a blood clot. In normal situation, some proteins form a blood clot when a blood vessel is injured or damaged. The aim of this test is to monitor this process to identify the blood clot formation is happening normally (Tripodi and Chantarangkul, 2017). The test procedure is as follows. Blood sample is put in a test tube that contains oxalate or citrate. Mixing and centrifugation follows. A plasma sample is obtained and placed in to measuring test tube. An excess of calcium in a suspension of phospholipid is added. Finally, an activator is added and the time it takes for coagulation to take place is recorded. The typical range of reference is between 30 and 50 seconds. References Mulloy, B., Hogwood, J., Gray, E., Lever, R., Page, C. P. (2016). Pharmacology of heparin and related drugs.Pharmacological reviews,68(1), 76-141. Tripodi, A., Chantarangkul, V. (2017). Lupus Anticoagulant Testing: Activated Partial Thromboplastin Time (APTT) and Silica Clotting Time (SCT). InHemostasis and Thrombosis (pp. 177-183). Humana Press, New York, NY.