Heart & blood pressure
AFib Ablation or Blood Thinners? Your Treatment Choices Explained by a Cardiac Nurse
Educational only, not medical advice. Talk to your own doctor, nurse practitioner or pharmacist. In an emergency, call 911.
What this video covers
If you have atrial fibrillation, you may be weighing up blood thinners, ablation and other options. In this video, a cardiac nurse with 17 years at the bedside explains your AFib treatment choices in plain words, for adults over 60 with AFib and the families who help them.
You will learn how the common blood thinners compare: Eliquis (apixaban), Xarelto (rivaroxaban), Pradaxa (dabigatran), Savaysa (edoxaban) and warfarin. Nurse Ade explains why your kidneys, age and weight can change your blood thinner dose, and why aspirin is not a substitute. She then explains rate control versus rhythm control, cardioversion and catheter ablation, and who the Watchman device is for, including what Medicare requires. The video also covers living safely on a blood thinner, what to do if you fall and hit your head, and new research that is studying whether a blood thinner can be stopped after a successful ablation. Never start, stop or change a blood thinner because of a video. Talk to your prescriber first.
Key points
- Eliquis (apixaban), Xarelto (rivaroxaban), Pradaxa (dabigatran), Savaysa (edoxaban) and warfarin compared
- Why your kidneys, age and weight can change your blood thinner dose, and why aspirin is not a substitute
- Rate control vs rhythm control, cardioversion and catheter ablation
- The Watchman device: who it is for and what Medicare requires
- Living safely on a blood thinner, and what to do if you fall and hit your head
- New research on stopping a blood thinner after a successful ablation
Chapters
- 0:00 Your AFib treatment choices
- 1:11 Quick recap: the stroke risk score
- 2:27 How blood thinners work
- 2:54 Newer blood thinners vs. warfarin
- 3:35 Eliquis, Xarelto, Pradaxa, Savaysa compared
- 4:54 Kidneys, age, and weight: getting the dose right
- 5:43 Warfarin and INR blood tests
- 6:11 Bleeding risk
- 6:56 What blood thinners cost on Medicare
- 7:40 Rate control vs. rhythm control
- 8:21 Rhythm medicines matched to your heart
- 9:24 Cardioversion: the electrical reset
- 9:51 Catheter ablation
- 10:45 Why early rhythm control matters
- 12:27 The Watchman device
- 13:48 Living safely on a blood thinner
- 14:41 If you fall and hit your head
- 15:37 Life after cardioversion and ablation
- 16:04 Can you stop a blood thinner after ablation?
- 17:53 Your questions answered
- 18:33 Three questions to ask your doctor
- 19:23 Recap
