GPs may prescribe preventive blood thinners to patients at risk of thrombosis who are infected or suspected to be infected with the coronavirus, writes the NOS.
Research among corona patients on Dutch ICUs showed that many of them develop thrombosis symptoms, which increases the risk of death. Corona patients are currently already being given blood thinners in hospital.
Now (suspected) bedridden corona patients who are not in the hospital are also eligible for treatment, a new guideline states. These are people who have had a thrombosis or have a lot of thrombosis in the family and cancer patients, together about 150,000 to 200,000 people per year.
The GP will assess per patient whether the administration of the blood thinners is really necessary, because it can also lead to negative side effects, such as bleeding. The blood thinners will then be given by injection. It is not about the type of blood thinners that cardiovascular disease patients get.
The purpose of this preventive treatment is to prevent thrombosis complications in patients. Treatment may therefore also lead to fewer hospital admissions.
A wide-ranging study is currently underway in the Netherlands into the relationship between coronavirus, thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. In a thrombosis, a blood vessel becomes blocked by a blood clot. When this clot comes off and ends up in the lungs, it is called a pulmonary embolism.
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