[Treatment with ticlodipine after intracoronary stent implantation]

Complications were registered prospectively in 100 patients who had had a successful intracoronary stent implantation as assessed by quantitative angiography. The reference diameter of the vessels was 3.29 +/- 0.52 mm. Instead of the traditional treatment with dextran, heparin, warfarin, acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and dipyridamol, all patients received the platelet antagonist ticlopidine 250 mg twice daily for 28 days together with ASA 160 mg daily. In the first 50 patients low molecular weight heparin was injected for three days. There was no incidence of stent occlusion within one month after the stent implantation. Only one patient needed surgical repair because of groin haematoma, whereas three patients needed prolonged compression in the groin because of bleeding. Ticlopidine was withdrawn because of side effects in 11 patients. No serious haematological side effect was seen. In the patients who received low molecular weight heparin the stay in hospital was 5.3 +/- 1.0 days, whereas the remaining 50 patients stayed in the hospital for 2.8 +/- 1.9 days. Thus, compared with traditional anticoagulation therapy, treatment with ticlopidine and ASA after stent implantation prevented stent occlusion, groin complications were few, and the need for hospitalization was reduced.