Quote:
Originally Posted by Matt The Hammer
I guess they aren't giving him any thinners to dissolve it yet.
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Blood thinners don't dissolve clots, they keep new clots from forming, and keep old clots from getting bigger. Thrombolytics, on the other hand, actually break up existing clots. Their infusion requires one to be in a monitored ICU bed, and meet certain requirements to reduce the risk of unwanted and potentially harmful/fatal bleeding.
Coumadin and Heparin, along with the newer IIb/IIIa inhibitors such as eptifibatide (Integrilin) are common "blood thinners" that we use nowdays, while Retavase and Urokinase (among a few others) are actual thrombolytics that break up existing clot.
Whether or not the clot is arterial or venous is also of large significance, as a previous poster pointed out. You are not going to get a PE from a distal arterial clot, but you may completely lose circulation to the extremity, and, in severe cases, lose a limb or digits on that limb.