Argatroban is an anticoagulant that is a small molecule direct thrombin inhibitor. Argatroban is given intravenously and drug plasma concentrations reach steady state in 1-3 hours. Argatroban is metabolized in the liver and has a half-life of about 50 minutes. It is monitored by PTT. Because of its hepatic metabolism, it may be used in patients with renal dysfunction. Argatroban is used as an anticoagulant in individuals with thrombosis and heparin induced thrombocytopenia. Often these individuals require long term anticoagulation. If warfarin is chosen as the long term anticoagulant, this poses particular challenges due to the falsely elevated prothrombin time and INR caused by argatroban. The combination of argatroban and warfarin may raise the INR to greater than 5.0 without a significant increased risk of bleeding complications.
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