Extended use of anti-clotting drug helps some bedridden patients
A treatment plan used to prevent potentially dangerous blood clots in recovering surgical patients can also benefit some patients immobilized by acute medical illness, doctors have found in a multi-institutional study. In women, patients age 75 or older, and patients strictly confined to 24-hour bed rest, a month of extended treatment with a blood thinner significantly reduced the chances of blood clots while only slightly increasing the risk of bleeding.
Patients with leg blood clots sought for clinical study
Washington University physicians at Barnes-Jewish Hospital are seeking participants for a study comparing two treatments for blood clots in the legs known as deep vein thromboses (DVTs).