Information about the new oral anticoagulant Pradaxa®

Posted by Pharmacist Hoang Nguyen Kim Thoa - Clinical Pharmacist - Faculty of Pharmacy - Vinmec Times City International Hospital

Pradaxa® is an oral anticoagulant that treats and prevents clot formation through direct inhibition of clotting factor IIa. To ensure effective treatment, patients need to use drugs according to prescription or under the guidance of doctors, pharmacists.

Pradaxa ® has the active ingredient dabigatran, an oral anticoagulant that treats and prevents blood clot formation through direct inhibition of clotting factor IIa. The drug has been developed and used since the late 2000s. Due to its convenience and no need for frequent coagulation function tests to evaluate the effectiveness of the drug, Pradaxa ® is tending to be more indicated in practice. clinical.

You may be prescribed to use Pradaxa ® in some cases to treat or prevent blood clots such as stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, prevention of venous thromboembolism Deep vessel and pulmonary embolism after knee or hip replacement surgery.
Oral anticoagulants do not act directly on the blood clot, dissolving the clot, but creating favorable conditions for the clot to dissolve gradually or not to grow, reducing the risk of chronic thrombosis and other serious acute complications.

Dosage of Pradaxa® depends on the indication for use. Accordingly, to ensure effective treatment, you need to use the correct dose prescribed by your doctor. The drug may be dose adjusted according to renal function and should be used with more caution in elderly patients.
The usual dose can be from 110-150mg x 2 times / day or 220mg x 1 time / day. Drug users should also note, only open the aluminum blister just before use and avoid removing the capsule. In addition, users of the drug also need to swallow the tablet whole, do not chew the tablet. In case you cannot take the whole tablet, you need to tell your doctor right away.
The time of taking the drug depends on the indication for taking the drug, you should not stop taking it without consulting your doctor. In the case of using it to prevent stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation, you need to take it for life.

The most important thing when using oral anticoagulants is to take the correct dose according to the instructions of the doctor or private pharmacist, do not arbitrarily stop the drug, do not increase or decrease the dose without consulting the doctor
Anticoagulants generally increase the risk of bleeding. However, not all patients experience these side effects. Accordingly, you need to pay attention to signs of light bleeding such as nosebleeds, bleeding gums, bruises on the skin so that you can discuss it with your doctor during your visits.
In case of heavy bleeding, difficult to stop bleeding, you need to notify the doctor immediately. In addition, you can tell your doctor right away in the case of pink or red urine, black stools (such as coffee grounds, acrid smell, unusual signs) or blood in the stools, vomiting or coughing up blood . You also need to talk to or tell your healthcare provider that you are taking Pradaxa ® when you are about to have surgery or procedures with a risk of bleeding, including tooth extraction or when you start a procedure. Sports with a high risk of bleeding.
You need to tell your doctor when you need to take other medicines for any reason. Avoid prolonged use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as ibuprofen, ketorolac, aspirin, etc. Safer choice for acute pain relief is paracetamol at a dose not exceeding 3000mg/day (when there is no monitoring of the patient). medical staff).
Although there is no need to do blood tests to measure drug levels or evaluate the effectiveness of drugs, you still need to have regular health check-ups or follow up with your doctor's appointment to monitor the effectiveness, safety and adjustment. appropriate dose of medication.
Understanding drug information as well as adherence to treatment is the key to ensuring drug effectiveness and healthier living with chronic diseases.