Deep vein thrombosis is a blood clot that has surfaced in at least one deep vein in the body. Most often, these blood clots will occur in the legs. There are drugs that can help to treat existing deep vein thrombosis as well as drugs that can help to prevent a new blood clot from forming.
Deep Vein Thrombosis Medications
Most deep vein thrombosis medications are anticoagulant drugs. Anticoagulants work by interfering with parts of the body that create blood clots. This means that they help with stopping deep vein thrombosis. Most anticoagulants prevent the blood clots of deep vein thrombosis from getting bigger; however, they will not dissolve the blood clots.
Anticoagulants also help to lower the chances of another blood clot forming.
The most common anticoagulants are and . Both of these drugs require monitoring by healthcare professionals, so some patients prefer the newer anticoagulants. New deep vein thrombosis medications include , , , , , , and . The newer anticoagulants can be administered either orally or via injection. Patients taking any of the newer anticoagulants would not require as much monitoring as being on or .
There are pros and cons to both the older and the newer anticoagulants. The newer anticoagulants would not require as much testing of the patient’s blood levels nor will they negatively interact as much with other drugs. They also would not be affected by a patient’s dietary changes, which is the case with . On the other hand, the older anticoagulants are cheaper and can come as a generic drug (newer anticoagulants are only offered as brand-name drugs).
Additionally, the long-term effects of the newer anticoagulants are also not known yet. The long-term effects of and are more predictable due to more research history.
Patients should consult their doctor to determine what drug is best suited to their needs.
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Posted on March 24, 2023