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Ensuring effective warfarin therapy
Knowing your INR value
Effective warfarin treatment requires monitoring
· Taking the correct dose is crucial for efficient anticoagulation treatment.
· The correct dose is established by measuring how long it takes your blood to
clot. This is called the International Normalized Ratio (INR)
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· An INR of 1 is normal and is found in people who are not taking warfarin
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· An INR of 2 means that your blood takes twice as long to clot as normal
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· An INR of 3 means that your blood takes three times as long to clot as nor-
mal
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· Your doctor will provide you with a target INR range, depending on your indication.
Within this therapeutic range you are at the lowest risk of stroke or embolism
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· As your response to treatment may be affected by several factors, such as the
food you eat and medications you take
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, it is important to monitor regularly to
check your INR value
Monitoring is
the safest way
to know that your
anticoagulation
therapy is working
effectively
Taking the correct dose is crucial to prevent complications4
· If you are not taking enough warfarin (i.e. your INR value is too low), you are at
risk of:
· Developing harmful blood clots (which can, depending on the condition you
have been diagnosed with, cause stroke, heart attack or venous thromboem-
bolism)
· If you are taking too much warfarin (i.e. your INR value is too high), you are at
risk of:
· Bleeding or bruising
· Excessive blood loss in response to injury
· Brain hemorrhage
Not enough
warfarin
INR-value
Within range
Too much
warfarin
2.0
3.0
Risk of blood clots,
e.g. stroke, VIE
Risk of bleeding,
e.g. brain hemorrhage
Fig 5: Not enough warfarin (e.g. too low INR) is associated with a risk for blood clots,
while too much warfarin (e.g. too high INR) can lead to bleeding complications.
e optimal INR depends on your condition; for atrial brillation it is between 2 and 3
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.