If there is a risk of clotting during and after an operation, and you cannot take anticoagulants for some time, you may try wenovawe instead, but this is a small pump that aids in transfering the blood up the leg. Wenovawe has been shown to reduce the risk of clotting during and after neurological surgery (especially on the head) where anticoagulation needs to be avoided for some time. See http://www.venowave.com/ and posts on this forum and www.dvtforum.com. Ideally you would need to have two wenovawes., one on each leg. Naturally, these are quite expensive,but if you are lucky, the hospital may have got some you can borrow. Finally, I do not own one, so I cannot say much about it from personal experience, but there are lots of people that find it helpful. I can see now that my reply comes probably too late. Sorry about that

jbmc777,

I haven't had that type of procedure but from what I know, discontinuing the anticoagulant two days beforehand sounds standard for that specific procedure (see:

http://www.heartcenterdocs.com/services/Cath_Information.pdf

http://professionalsblog.clotconnect.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/UNC-Xarelto-2012.pdf

Did your Hemoc suggest when you would commencing starting back up the Xarelto following the procedure?

Me myself, I would not look into buying a Venowave. I was asked to try the device back in 2009 during ISTH Boston and found the device uncomfortable and aggrevating. The device is much like a portable massage unit which is Velcro to your calf (somethink you would find at a Brookstone Store at the mall). Yes studies do show it has potential to help with PTS and reduce neurosurgical complication follow surgery (you're going to be in a pneumatic stocking anyways if hospitalized). The dvtforum.com website is one I used to be an original member of (along with Dero from this forum). One of the reason we left is the pimping of devices (which Venowave's suppliers took major advantage of disguised as patients). Again, that's not to say the device does not work (it does have studies supporting it's use).


R/
Tom

I agree on the venowave, Tom. I know a few people here found it helpful, but to me, too few to give it an endorsement and it seems awfully expensive.

PS: this poster had posted something similar on the PE board where folks chimed in on the stopping xarelto question.

On the DVT forum,there are currrently 199 messages about the venowave. There are naturally different opinions about this equipment.There are some that love and others that loath it. It may well that venowave fabricated some answers praising this equipment, and if that is the case, it is utterly unethical.

As I say, I cannot judge anything myself about this equiments, apart from what I have seen in the literature. There are two approaches to avoid clotting. First you can make the blood thinner so it does flow better and does not clot so easily. The other approach is basically pump mechanically the blood up the leg with this venowave pump (or similar), and this avoids the blood slowing down and clotting. The blood is transported up the veins in the leg with calf compression, i.e. the veins cannot compress themselves like the arteries. So, everytime you walk or doing some excercise you are compressing the calf muscles, which squeezes the calf veins that are extremely elastic and the blood is transported upwards while the valves make sure it does not go downwards (basically like pumping air into a tire). So basically, blood through all veins in your body is transported with muscle compression. When you are immobile (like in a lower leg cast) then the calf cannot be compressed and clotting becomes a risk as the blood has difficulty to move upwards, it pools and etc.... So venowave works like a calf muscle. If you have really sedative lifestyle, then venowave will take care of all the pumping of the blood up the leg. On the other hand, it would be enough to stand up at regular intervals, have a little walk, compress the calf while you sit, and the calf takes care of pumping up the blood. If you have a DVT or PTS, then the compression stocking takes care of thighten the vein and thus inherently increase the pressure in the vein and thus each time you press your calf it will be easier to pump the blood up the vein compared to if you were not in compression stocking. However, there are lots of people, especially with PTS that have benefitted from venowave. On the other hand, it is becoming clearer that excercise is now seen as a more important factor in reducing PTS symptoms. So actually I wonder whether a venowave is beneficial at all for a patient with PTS which is also physically active. There could be naturally lots of people that will disagree with me...

They're $500 in the US.

Thanks Tom. All went well. Stopped X 48 hours before Right heart Cath. Started back up the night after the procedure. Same dose 20 MG.
I was a little anxious, but it was fine. Stayed hydrated, wore compression.
I have three areas with scarring and residual clot, but they have been "stable" for almost 9 months.