Distant haemorrhagic effects in intra-arterial tissue plasminogen activator--the effect of a bolus dose

Details are reported of four patients who developed serious distant haemorrhagic complications while undergoing peripheral arterial thrombolysis with intra-arterial tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA). The thrombolytic regime comprised a 20 mg bolus of t-PA followed by a continuous infusion of 1 mg/hr. Four additional cases of haemorrhage at the catheter entry site were also encountered in a group of 23 patients exposed to the bolus-infusion t-PA regimen. The high haemorrhage rate (31%) is a significant disadvantage of this thrombolytic protocol.