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Pharmacy & Pharmacology vocabulary · Drug Classes

Anticoagulant

Meaning in pharmacy & pharmacology, with examples

/ˌæntikoʊˈæɡjələnt/nounCommon term

In pharmacy & pharmacology, anticoagulant means: A medicine that slows down blood clotting, used to prevent and treat clots in conditions such as atrial fibrillation, deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.

In Turkish: antikoagülan, kan sulandırıcı, pıhtılaşma önleyici

How it is used

Examples are warfarin, heparins and the newer direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) such as apixaban and rivaroxaban. Patients call them 'blood thinners'. They are high-risk medicines, so pharmacists check doses, interactions, INR results for warfarin and signs of bleeding.

Example sentences

  1. Because she's on an anticoagulant, we need to check before she buys ibuprofen.

  2. Warfarin is an anticoagulant that needs regular INR blood tests.

Common collocations

  • oral anticoagulant
  • on anticoagulants
  • start anticoagulation
  • direct oral anticoagulant
  • NSAIDShort for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug: a medicine such as ibuprofen, naproxen or diclofenac that reduces pain, fever and inflammation.
  • drug interactionA change in the effect of a medicine caused by another medicine, a food, a drink or a disease, which can make the medicine weaker, stronger or more harmful.
  • therapeutic indexA measure of a drug's safety that compares the dose that causes harm with the dose that gives the wanted effect; a narrow index means these doses are close together.
  • medication errorA preventable mistake in prescribing, dispensing, preparing, giving or monitoring a medicine, whether or not it actually harms the patient.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Drug Classes

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This page explains English vocabulary for learners. It is not medical advice.