Stroke after Heparin

Yes, Virgina. Heparin can cause a stroke. My question regards the ability ofthe new generation of physicians to"connect the dots".

[caregiver222]

My sweetlittle103 year old suffered another stroke in what is considered the best hospital in the United States. She went in for alittle hydration and the duty physician in the ER administered heparin directly in contravention of my instructions. From aperson able to smile, laugh, hold hands and feed herself, she deteriorated untilI administered vitramin K and got her the heck out. The chief of geriatrics was non-plussed and said"That little heparin wouldn't cause a stroke", however he is wrong. The hydration with normal saline pushed her blood pressure up. The incompetence of uncaring nurses and unnecessary blood draws made her upset.The elevated bloodpressure caused a bleed. And the heparinization prevented her naturalclotting mechanism fromoperating. They wouldn't even admit she was heparinized untilI gave them a choice give me the exact identification of all medications or I would be at the district attorney's office by noon. Her regular physician is a good one, but had an emergency hospitalization herself,and she had no-one "steering the ship. If this was 1814 I would be doing determinations at 10paces, however realisticallyspeaking, those days are long gone,so I have to be satisfiedpunching outmy bathroommirror and breaking my furniture. The good news is that after I administered the K and took her out of the hospital there has been someimprovement, but there is left sidepartialparalysis and a host ofother problems. The lesson here is,an elderly patient who normally spends her entire day sitting in bed does not require heparinization if she goes into a hospital to lie on a bed. The problem is all hospitals these days have heparinization protocols written in stone, and these protocols are absolutely positively contrainidicated for many patients. Had I known what wasgoing on I would have immediately administered vitamin K, however the nurse on duty lied to me when asked the question. So we shall see what we shall see.If she does not regain the ability to swallow (and it has been a long road to develop that) I will have to make a peg decision. This is all my fault for not having been more diligent in taking care of her. But I urge anyone who has a relative or friend who has suffered a stroke secondary to a bleed in the past to insist that there be no heparinization if they are hospitalized.

[caregiver222]

72 hours after release, on vitamin K, my little 103 year olds condition has improved markedly. Dramatically, in fact. My point is not that anti-coagulents are improper drugs to administer. In many cases these substances represent the diffference between life and death and very appropriate. On the other hand, if the stroke is due to a bleed a diametrically opposite protocol must be instituted. And in fairness to the medical profession, it is often difficult and sometimes impossible to determine the cause of the stroke.