Has anyone had surgery using a Loveno... - Hughes Syndrome A...
Has anyone had surgery using a Lovenox bridge for Coumadin? I'm nervous about going off Coumadin for the 1st time since my stroke—12 years.
Hi
Yes, I had open heart surgery and came off Warfarin onto Fragmin and then back onto Warfarin. I'm now off Warfarin and on Fragmin permanently, as it suits me better and I feel better.
Dave
HI Asigmon- A couple of years ago i had my 1 st surgery - The APS has given me AVN- I had a core decompression on my Right hip - I was a 80 % risk factor. I went on the Lov-nox for 2 days before surgery - off warfarin ,tapering down the week prior. ! st off all my thinners since 2009. they also wanted to accurately test protein S $ C and they can't be tested while on warfarin. so i stayed on the lov-nox 120 ml for 7 weeks post surgery i am a patient that is considered multi - factual because i have so many problems -- but point being i went threw it like a breeze and for me to go threw it was really something. 5 of my Dc's watched me like a hawk !! Hemo - rheumy - .PCP - Pain Care whom administer most of my Med's- Eye specialist- Gastro - Surgeon was the one wanting every one on board before he would do the procedure . Since then i have had another procedure an inguinal hernia - and an oral procedure -- all times going off all my thinners and and onto the bridging with the lov-nox. They were really concerned as i said and if i could go threw it with my complications. i think it's a pretty safe move -- now they are considering a total hip- re-doing the right side an possibly the left . if you want more info on it get back to me and i can dig out paper work and answer anything you want if it helps you. or any questions you might have tat i can help with. when i did the gore decompression many people on this site were with me threw it all and know what i was up against . You will find a lot of help and support here a great bunch of people :-)-- feel free to contact me any time if i can help further------------------------------------- jet
I have with no problems, just needed to have warfarin doses adjusted afterwards as will take time to settle down again.
Good luck hope everything goes well with your op
Hi ASigmon
I don't want to worry you, but give cautionary tale. If they are giving you bridging make sure you use it. If they are not offering it, make sure they give it.
Due to major communication failures by all medical professionals my husband did not know about bridging, and did not move to Hepron from Warfrin for surgery in 2012. As a consequence he suffered CAPS, loosing his adrenal glands, suffering a suspected brain injury, and he may also have (it's being checked at the moment) some heart or lung damage. He was extremely sick after surgery and will never return to his pre-surgery self.
BRIDGING IS ESSENTIAL and can make all the difference in the world to how you come through surgery.
Hi,
My last stroke was 10 years ago and I've been doing well on coumadin since then.
4 months ago I had bilateral knee replacements done by the surgeon recommended by my rheumatologist. They know how to work together on bridging and heparin before and after the procedure, especially since orthopedic surgery is notorious for causing clots, even in "normal" people. Together they managed me perfectly with 7 days of lovenox prior, admission 24 hrs before surgery for a heparin iv drip, and restarted heparin iv 6 hrs after surgery, so essentially there was no time when I was not covered.
I'm thrilled to have come through it all with the only complications being continually oozing bleeding in my legs from the surgery, which increased the pain level and made me require a couple of blood transfusions. A reasonable price to pay...better than having a stroke.
All my charts were tagged prominently with "caution, hypercoagulable state." The only downside was that since both knees were in severe shape and needed replacement, they had to be done at the same time to keep me from undergoing the trauma of surgery twice, making rehab twice as difficult.
So, I guess the key to successful surgery is making sure the doc who normally manages you and the surgeon are comfortable working with each other to make sure all the bases are covered. Hope this helps.
