Stoping eliquis before surgery?

Are you on Eliquis by prescription, presumably due to a previous arrhythmia, or due to a CHADS-VASc score that is higher than 1.0? If so, then stop it if your instructions say to stop it, and do so when they say to stop taking it before surgery.

Eliquis is meant to retard the formation of clots. It doesn't stop clotting....it only slows it down. Please follow the instructions you were given.

Thanks. On Eliquis for AFIB. Minor facial surgery caused severe bleeding later at home. Cardiologist says if surgeon is OK with it… then stop Eliquis until after surgery. 78 year old man in otherwise excellent health…

Trust me. It is scary how much you bleed…..As some of you probably know….

I always check any procedure with my cardiologist - even a tooth extraction!

Yep: Learned my lesson for sure……

Just my two cents here, regarding my experiences with surgery/procedures and stopping Eliquis. I take 5 mg/day in two divided doses for paroxysmal A-fib. ( CHADS2Vasc score of 4) Two years ago I had a colonoscopy to look for the source of GI bleeding. The surgeon who did the colonoscopy instructed me to keep taking the Eliquis up to the day of the colonoscopy, just not the morning dose the day of the colonoscopy. He said he wanted to make sure he found the bleeding source, and boy, he did. It was a cancerous mass in my colon, in the transverse colon near the hepatic junction.

Of course this required a colon resection, and for that, the surgeon's office contacted my cardiologist for cardiac clearance to have me stop taking the Eliquis three days before the surgery was scheduled. The Eliquis was resumed on the third day following the surgery, with the evening dose.

I've been informed by my dentist that they do not require patients to stop their anticoagulants before dental procedures, even tooth extractions, as they have substances/meds they can use to stop the bleeding from those procedures. I haven't had anything but dental cleanings and an occasional crown replacement since I started taking Eliquis, so I don't have first hand experience with it.

It seems to be customary here in our neck of the woods that in the event a patient is undergoing a procedure/surgery that requires they stop taking an anticoagulant for some time beforehand, the provider contacts the patient's cardiologist for approval and follows any instructions from the cardiologist as applicable.

One event requiring cardioversion 2 years ago seems to me why are you taking eliquis at all? When I had was in your situation I stopped it after a month. Unfortunately too many cardios believe one Afib event is enough to set off alarm bells. Eventually it became more frequent and I decided to stay on eliquis. I would sure check with my cardio but what kind of surgery are you having that might require stopping eliquis? My brother is on sotalol for Afib suppression has broken over 6 teeth and stopped eliquis per his dentist request for every extraction/and bone prep for implant. Just 3 weeks ago the day after he stopped eliquis he slipped into Afib and restarted it immediately cancelling his dentist appointment. He self-converted and waited a week and stopped again to get the tooth out.

I had a Mohs procedure on my nose (very intensive)……. The bleeding was a bit dramatic & frighting…. As you know, nobody will recommend stop taking Eliquis… Apparently for legal purposes… Although my dermatologist said he didn’t see why I was still taking it if I had a fib in two years… Of course, my cardiologist always says keep taking it forever… So I stopped so I could complete this particular procedure… And I’m fine but it’s a kind of a crapshoot… As we all know, thanks for sharing your journey. I wish the best for us all.

That is one of the reasons that cardiologists will urge their patients to take the DOAC, liability, but also for ethical reasons. Nobody rational wants to die before their time, and a stroke is a sure-fire way to get you almost, or all of, the way there. The worst would be the 'almost' result, and that's by a long shot. A stroke is life shattering in many instances, and what if you LIVE?!?!?!

The other main reason is that the CHA2DS2-VASc score is a useful indicator of risk for stroke. Scores above about 1.5 merit serious consideration of life-long anti-coagulation, while a score of 2.0 and up means you are running a 'high risk' to experience a thrombosis some time in the future, even if it takes six years or more.
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/STROKEAHA.115.012609#:~:text=The%20summary%20estimate%20for%20the%20annual%20risk%20of,%280.9%25%29%2C%20but%20below%20the%20threshold%20for%20warfarin%20%281.7%25%29.