PT PTT INR and coumadin explain it all please?

1 I just need a BASIC explanation of the connection of PT,PTT,INR and coumadin. What elevated and low lab values mean, etc. For some reason this is one of those things that perplexes me.
PT: prothrombin time...tells you if pt's coumadin is at a therapeutic level. If it's low or normal and the patient is on coumadin, then the dose is not therapeutic and needs to be increased.INR: international normalized ratio...still has to do with coumadin therapeutic level. When lab runs a PT you get INR results also. 2-3 is therapeutic. If it's a lot higher, the patient probably needs some vitamin K to counteract it so he won't start bleeding all over the place.PTT (aPTT): (activated) partial thromboplastin time...tells you if patient on heparin is at a therapeutic level. If it's low or normal and the patient is on heparin, then the dose is not therapeutic and needs to be increased. We use a sliding scale for heparin, increasing or decreasing the dosage based on APTT results.Coumadin: anticoagulant that take several days to start working, so heparin is given at the same time till the coumadin level is therapeutic.Protamine: antidote for heparin (use is patient's APPT is sky high); works quickly.Vitamin K: antidote for coumadin; works slowly.I hope this helps you get it straight.

pt (prothrombin time) measures coumadin effect(warfarin).. antidote vit k *warfarin works s l o w l y/ vit k works s l o w l y.the thromboplastin (testing material) various labs used was different so the results were different lab to lab. so labs started reporting inr with the pro-time. the inr (international normalized ratio) is calculated with a math. formula so all results from all labs can be compared......fyi: hemophiliacs have normal pro-times. ptt (partial thromboplastin time) measures heparin effect. antidote is protamine.....*heparin works quickly/protamine works quickly

For faster reversal of an elevated PT/INR, my facility gives fresh frozen plasma as well as some vitamin K. The intracraneal hemorrhage patients or GI bleeders with elevated PT/INRs, almost always receive FFP to bring their PT/INRs back down.Chuck

it was explain to me as such the INR is a ration and 1 is consider the normal clotting value of a person with not medical history.because it a ration, a INR of 2 is explained as taking twice as long to clot as a reading of one, so they clot more slowly. the higher the INR the slower the clotting facter and high the risk of hemorrhage is. a INR is threaputic when it in the precribed range, but can be dangerous if its to high.This is how i keep it straight, anyway good luck.

thank you a lot!!!!Quote from whipping girl in 07PT: prothrombin time...tells you if pt's coumadin is at a therapeutic level. If it's low or normal and the patient is on coumadin, then the dose is not therapeutic and needs to be increased.INR: international normalized ratio...still has to do with coumadin therapeutic level. When lab runs a PT you get INR results also. 2-3 is therapeutic. If it's a lot higher, the patient probably needs some vitamin K to counteract it so he won't start bleeding all over the place.PTT (aPTT): (activated) partial thromboplastin time...tells you if patient on heparin is at a therapeutic level. If it's low or normal and the patient is on heparin, then the dose is not therapeutic and needs to be increased. We use a sliding scale for heparin, increasing or decreasing the dosage based on APTT results.Coumadin: anticoagulant that take several days to start working, so heparin is given at the same time till the coumadin level is therapeutic.Protamine: antidote for heparin (use is patient's APPT is sky high); works quickly.Vitamin K: antidote for coumadin; works slowly.I hope this helps you get it straight.