My 83 Year Old Husband Is On Daily Warfarin ,

Posted on Thu, 4 Jul 2019

Question: My 83 year old husband is on daily warfarin, usually about 22 mg/7days for PFO. stroke 2004. 11 days ago he finished 10d of Zyvox 600 mg b.i.d. for wound infection of foot. 6/3 platelets were 140. 1 day after finishing Zyvox platelets were 72. INR has been in the 3.2 to 3.8 range, This am was 3.7. In lasst 4 days, one dose omitted, 3 mg last 3 days. Just found out about the low platelets today. Dr. is out of town Should I omit warfarin until INR comes down?. Is also on Plavix for balloon in leg artery 8/18. He is having no unusual sx or bruising. Thank you.

Answered by Dr. Indranil Ghosh (6 hours later)

Brief Answer:
More than 50k platelets is usually safe

Detailed Answer:
Hi
Thanks for your query.

You said that 11 days back he finished zyvox and then platelets were 72k. What is the platelets count now? Above 50k is usually safe and stopping warfarin altogether is not the usual practice.

The dose of warfarin needs to be adjusted and platelets and INR monitored daily till lab values are within safe limits.

Hope this helps.
Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Vaishalee Punj