Peptide Graded

Bivalirudin

Is Bivalirudin safe?

Bleeding data; more early stent thrombosis

AStrong human evidenceFDA approvedas of 2026-10-26

Bleeding is the main risk of any blood thinner. In HORIZONS-AMI, bivalirudin caused less of it than the heparin regimen. Other reported effects are back pain, nausea, headache and low blood pressure. The kidneys clear part of the drug. So doctors lower the infusion rate in kidney impairment. In those patients the blood-thinning effect lasts longer. 13

There is no antidote. The short half-life is the safeguard. Trials showed one specific hazard. That hazard is acute stent thrombosis in the hours after a procedure, before oral antiplatelet drugs take full effect. 3

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More on Bivalirudin

Citations

  1. Drugs.com monograph: bivalirudin drugs.com
  2. Moen 2005, Drugs: bivalirudin, a review of its use in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention link.springer.com
  3. Stone 2008, NEJM: bivalirudin during primary PCI in acute myocardial infarction (HORIZONS-AMI) doi.org
  4. FDA Drugs@FDA: Angiomax (bivalirudin) NDA 020873 accessdata.fda.gov

Reference information only, not medical advice. Drawn from the Bivalirudin article, fact-checked against the cited sources. No dosing anywhere on this site.