Abstract
Anticoagulation therapy prevents the generation of thrombin and the subsequent conversion of fibrinogen to fibrin by various mechanisms. Heparin is a parenterally administered anticoagulant that indirectly blocks the thrombotic effect of thrombin after activation of antithrombin.
Injectable anticoagulants also include low-molecular-weight heparins (LMWH) and fondaparinux, which indirectly, with the participation of antithrombin, inhibit activated F Xa. Oral anticoagulants (OACs) include warfarin, which suppresses the formation of functional procoagulation factors dependent on vitamin K (prothrombin, F VII, F IX, and F X), and so-called direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs), which cause either direct inhibition of thrombin (dabigatran etexilate) or direct inhibition of activated F Xa (apixaban, edoxaban, rivaroxaban).