Blood thinners and stopping use before surgery?

[billethkid]

a family member uses warfarin for blood thinning for A-fib and is facing probable surgery in the near future.
The surgeon would like him to stop taking the warfarin 5 days before the surgery.
His cardiologist says no more than three days.
I suspect the surgeon will yield to the guidance of the cardiologist. I asked if the cardiologist would conduct an invasive cardio-vascular procedure with stopping 3 days in advance and the answer came back yes.

Anybody have experience with this critereon prior to surgery....specifically warfarin (coumadin)?

[Stdole]

I have had two Ablations for Afib... I have been on Blood Thinners
for both procedures . I stopped 5 days prior to the operation.. and gave myself short time needles in my stomach (very easy and short needles)
prior to the procedure and stopped the day of the procedure... then the
hospital starts Heparin the day of the procedure or very soon there after.

I do know as of about 1 year ago there is a difference now in that only stop the day before with no additional blood thinners until the procedure is over.

I would say the surgeon should be the one to make the call on this and his or her method... and depends on the operation one is going to have done..

Warfarin carries a longer life than other blood thinners such as Heparin which is timed in hours as opposed to days.

Myself if one is not having Afib attacks on a regular daily basis that last more than 5 min I would error or go with no blood thinners prior to the operation than take a chance on bleeding to death or bleeding heavy..

It would help to know the type of operation if in intact involves the heart or are we talking about bones etc. Again if we are talking about two heart doctors here the either one could make the call and are qualified if he is a general surgeon I would go with the Cardiologist recommendation as he is the one that will be called if there is a problem..

But really this question has become easier in the past year for two to manage and not a really big problem. The INR will be active manage before and during and after the operation!

[rosygail]

I take warfarin and they had me stop it and use self- injections (in abdomen) of heparin for three days before surgery. Heparin has a much shorter effective life. No blood thinners at all on day of surgery. Everything worked out great! Talk to your surgeon and cardiologist and get them to agree on a plan!

[llaran]

I talked to someone recently that stopped, had a surgery and a stroke a few days later. I guess it is take your chances!

[dbussone]

I take warfarin and they had me stop it and use self- injections (in abdomen) of heparin for three days before surgery. Heparin has a much shorter effective life. No blood thinners at all on day of surgery. Everything worked out great! Talk to your surgeon and cardiologist and get them to agree on a plan!


Excellent advice in your last sentence. For a simple colonoscopy my GI doc wanted my cardiologist to see me prior to the procedure and include a written plan for blood thinner use.

[Xcuse]

I have been on warfarin since 2001 and have had several surgeries since then. At different times I have stopped 5 days and 3 days before the operation on advice of my cardiologist. I was involved in a serious accident in 2010 and had major surgery while still on warfarin. I'm still here and would recommend you take the cardiologists advice. Have him consult with the surgeon if they are in disagreement.