Sintrom: what it is, indications, how to take it and side effects
If you have ever visited a health center in your Autonomous Community, either because you were sick or because you simply wanted to make an appointment to perform a routine blood test, it is quite likely that at some point you have found an informative poster about of the importance of control of those patients who must take Sintrom. And is that although we are faced with a drug as popular as common, his administration must always be controlled.
Although popularly it is more well-known with the name of Sintrom, the truth is that originally we are facing a anticoagulant drug or medication whose commercial name is Acenocoumarol. In fact, in the pharmaceutical market there are also other oral anticoagulant drugs such as aldocumar or warfarin, although many patients conceive it only under the name of Sintrom.
Not in vain, it is estimated that in our country, around 450,000 tests of Sintrom are carried out each year, with the aim of checking the INR coagulation factor. While in other countries the most commonly used or popular drug is warfarin. The reason is clear: Sintrom can not be administered in a fixed dose, being necessary to carry out analytics frequently to know how anticoagulated the patient's blood is.
What is Sintrom?
Under the name of Sintrom we are faced with a anticoagulant medicationwhose medical purpose is that of maintain blood coagulation in a controlled manner but with less coagulation intensity.
Explained more simply, we can say that it is a drug that what is achieved is that the blood becomes more liquid, reaching a more effective protection against embolism or thrombosis, with a lower risk of hemorrhage.
We must bear in mind that blood clots are formed by a protein known as fibrin, and also by platelets. In the case of anticoagulants like Sintrom what is achieved is inhibit the formation of fibrin, thus preventing the formation of blood clot.
Main indications of Sintrom
Sintrom is used mostly in patients with atrial fibrillation, since as a consequence of the arrhythmia there is the possibility that clots form inside the heart.
It is also used against the formation of deep vein thrombosis (thrombi in the veins of the legs), with the aim of trying to dissolve them, preventing in turn that they loose and travel to the lungs, with the risk of a pulmonary embolism. (or pulmonary infarction).
Its use is also necessary in patients with metallic valvular prostheses, since its consumption prevents the formation of blood clots in the prosthesis.
Taking into account all the indicated, Sintrom is used mainly in those patients who have a high risk of embolism or thrombosis, especially in the case of cardiac arrhythmias.
We can establish in the following section the main medical indications for the administration of Sintrom:
- Acute myocardial infarction.
- Venous thromboembolism.
- Placement of a cardiac valvular prosthesis.
- Atrial fibrillation
- Transient ischemic accident.
- Hereditary thrombophilia.
- Valvulopathies.
- Dilated cardiomyopathy.
How to take Sintrom
As indicated at the beginning of this note, this anticoagulant is not administered in a fixed dose, so it is as accurate as necessary to perform blood tests frequently so that the doctor can discover how anticoagulated the patient's blood is. Take Sintrom.
This control is carried out by means of a parameter in the analytical known with the name of INR. In this way, if the dose is insufficient the blood will have a low INR (normal coagulation), being necessary to increase the dose since in fact it would be as if the patient was not taking the drug. However, if the INR is high, the dose will be excessive and the blood will be highly anticoagulated, with the obvious risk of hemorrhage.
It is very important that when a patient takes Sintrom he tells the doctor the rest of the medication he is receiving, given that the control of this anticoagulant drug can be affected by a wide variety of drugs, including by the consumption of alcoholic beverages, natural herbal products or the own diet.
The Sintrom is taken daily, and during the treatment the doctor will administer to the patient a sheet with the daily doses of the medication, indicating the day and the appropriate dose for that day. Then there is a day of control, in which the patient must go to his medical center in order to carry out medical monitoring.
Side effects of Sintrom
The main side effect of Sintrom's use is the appearance of hemorrhages, which in some cases can become serious.
The most frequent are the small hemorrhages, which for example appear in the urine, gums or nose. It is also possible that the stools become black, which can be an indication of the presence of blood.
In case of any minimal symptom it is necessary to go to the medical center and tell the specialist, as long as they are not serious side effects, for which it is very important to go quickly to the emergency room. This article is published for informational purposes only. It can not and should not replace the consultation with a Physician. We advise you to consult your Trusted Doctor.
