American journal of critical care : an official publication, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
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Care of patients after stent placement has evolved with the goal of reducing thrombosis and bleeding. Initially, all patients received full antithrombotic therapy; now most receive antiplatelet therapy only. Despite this evolution, no description of the differences in complications and nursing care with these two treatments has been published. ⋯ Patients receiving anticoagulant therapy had more complications and required a higher intensity of nursing care than did patients who received antiplatelet therapy alone.