Do I stop anticoagulation for Cataract Surgery?

Well

by sgmfish - 2024-04-10 16:52:13

My EP always tells me to stop my anticoagulant (Pradaxa) a couple days before (maybe after to) before he's done each ablation. So if he says so.........

Ask the prescriber

by Lavender - 2024-04-10 17:01:48

I would ask the dr who prescribed the anticoagulant. 

Anticoagulation

by H van Dyk - 2024-04-10 17:14:50

My eyes were done by the same hospital as where my pacemaker was installed. For years I am on a blood thinner called 'Ascal' and there was no need to stop using that.
I think certain directives have changed over the years. Nowadays even the removal of a tooth or choose can be done in this way. In the past the general advice was to stop using blood thinners 5 or 7 days before. This is no longer so...

your pending surgery

by new to pace.... - 2024-04-10 18:29:46

Wishing you the best on Monday, Hopefully you have someone to drive you and pick you up.

I do not know the answer to your question as i had mine done before my pacemaker.

new to pace

Depends on your Doctor

by athena123 - 2024-04-10 18:40:14

They say there is really no reason to come off blood thinners but doctors  might be worried about brusing. Someone i know had cataract surgery and all was well. Be well Gemita all will be good with you. best of luck  

I'm no help..

by USMC-Pacer - 2024-04-10 19:03:28

...but I wish you all the luck and a speedy recovery.. God Bless

Stopping Medication

by Good Dog - 2024-04-10 20:10:11

I agree with Lavender. It may be best to ask the prescribing Doc. However, this is a bloodless surgery. Kinda like falling off a log! The one thing that I do know is that it is a quick and easy procedure and the results are miraculous! Extremely gratifying results!

I wish you nothing but the very best!

Sincerely,

Dave

Cataract surgery

by Flo - 2024-04-10 20:36:37

I don't know the answer Gemita but wish you the best Monday.

I would have thought not - but your eye surgeon's advice is key

by crustyg - 2024-04-11 03:31:20

Cataract surgery is pretty much bloodless so I can't see why stopping anti-coag would be wise.

As for stopping anti-coag before ablations - that makes no sense to me.  My EP-doc was most careful to check that I'd had my routine NOAC just before each of my two, even though I'd been nil-by-mouth for hours.  Pardon me, sgmfish, but either your memory is incorrect, your EP-doc was doing something that's not what we would call an ablation or you've been very (un)lucky.

Thank you for your support and kind wishes

by Gemita - 2024-04-11 03:33:24

Thank you all for your kind wishes and support.  It will be an early start on Monday and I shall be pleased when the procedure is behind me.

H Van Dyk I see you didn’t stop Ascal (Aspirin) for your cataract procedure.  Ascal is an antiplatelet.  I am taking Edoxaban, one of the novel oral anticoagulants (NOAC) for atrial fibrillation.  I agree there has been a change in opinion over recent years about whether it is necessary to interrupt antiplatelet, Warfarin (if the INR is within range) or NOAC treatment for certain procedures, including cataract surgery, but I will do whatever I am told.

I will update this thread when I have received further advice from health professionals.  I appreciate cataract surgery is generally a low risk procedure and that the benefits are clear for all to see, so I will stop worrying.

Possible Bruising

by SeenBetterDays - 2024-04-11 06:34:55

Hi Gemita

From what I have read there seems to be minimal risk from continuing blood thinning medication other than a potential for bruising.  I am so glad to hear that you have your surgery scheduled and hope all goes well for you on Monday.  I'll be thinking of you.  Let us know how it all goes.

Sending you lots of love and best wishes.

Rebecca x

Best wishes!

by Gotrhythm - 2024-04-11 11:55:09

I've never been on an anticoagulant so I have no words of wisdom to offer, but I do wish you all the best for a successful surgery and speedy recovery.

Ditto That!

by benedeni - 2024-04-11 16:12:34

I will extend the good wishes sent to you by adding mine.  All my best to you, Gemita.

Memory is shot

by sgmfish - 2024-04-11 19:32:22

crustyg,

These days I don't trust my memory at all. I'm pretty sure I was told to stop taking Pradaxa for at least one procedure, but I may well be wrong. Forget my thoughts....probably pretty anyway. Clearly one should check with your EP before stopping one's use of an anticoagulant. Whatever the situation was at the time, it made sense to me that I was asked to stop for a couple of days because I figured they needed to be sure whatever bleeding occurred would stop quickly. Basically I don't remember yesterday :-)

sgmfish and to all my friends

by Gemita - 2024-04-12 03:48:46

sgmfish, I don't know about you but some meds can really disturb my memory and disrupt sleep and a lot else, so don't beat yourself up about it.  Beta blockers for instance are one such culprit.

Because most of the NOAC’s (novel oral anticoagulants) time to response is within a few hours and it is only really effective for stroke protection when taken as recommended, normally twice daily, or in the case of Edoxaban, once daily, the effects would quickly diminish if we stopped taking them, even for 24 hours.  In any event the med would leave our body completely within a few days, so we would have no protection at all. 

I do recall though being told before one of my procedures, believe angiogram/EP Study, using the femoral artery, not to take my dose of Edoxaban on the day of my procedure.   Even so, I suffered severe bruising (a pseudo aneurysm).  My husband too had a significant bleed during his implant procedure since they failed to stop or to reduce his triple therapy (Aspirin, Clopidogrel, Apixaban) which the EP told his team to do.   He was taking triple therapy (antiplatelet/anticoagulation) for stent protection, so it is an area that needs watching carefully to keep us safe from both a potential blood clot and a serious bleed.

To all my friends, thank you for all your support.  I am still waiting to hear back from the eye clinic with clear advice on what to do about my anticoagulation.  I eventually got through to the eye clinic late afternoon yesterday.  They promised to contact the consultant and let me know today.

My EP is happy for me to follow the advice of the eye consultant although he seemed surprised of the need to stop anticoagulation for 48 hours.  I fear I have been given wrong advice

Hugs

by Lavender - 2024-04-12 08:38:37

I'm glad you're finally getting the cataract surgery you've waited to accomplish. I'm appalled that there's no consensus on preop advice. In working as a dental practice administrator, we deferred all medication decisions to the prescribing doctor when it came to premedication or halting anticoagulants. 
 

May your cataract surgery go smashingly on Monday with immediate improvement. 🌸