Patients with AF discharged after PCI often leave on three antithrombotic drugs with no written plan for when each should stop. The next prescriber, often a GP, cannot safely stop what they do not know was meant to be temporary, so triple therapy can continue far longer than intended.
Write each drug with a date: aspirin to stop on a given date, P2Y12 inhibitor to stop at 6 or 12 months, anticoagulant to continue. Say which one is lifelong. Give the patient the same list.
- List each antithrombotic with an explicit stop date or 'continue'
- Name the reason for any aspirin continued beyond a week
- Give the patient a written copy
- Check at the first follow-up that the plan was followed
Why it matters
A bleeding benefit that depends on stopping a drug is lost if nobody downstream knows it was meant to stop.
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