How is inr reported

Send Email. Donate today. Updated November After being diagnosed with a blood clot thrombosis , your healthcare provider may prescribe warfarin for treatment.

What does INR stand for? How often is testing needed? What can I do to help keep my INR level where it should be?

Looking forward Starting a new medication can be challenging and warfarin is no exception. Previous Post. All Posts. Next Post. Description of factors involved in coagulation of the blood, factors measured in the investigation of clotting disorders. The international normalised ratio INR is a laboratory measurement used to determine the effects of oral anticoagulants such as warfarin on the body's blood clotting.

Hypercoagulable disorders are a number of different conditions that lead to a predisposition to form blood clots. Explains how fibrinogen is used; when fibrinogen is used; what the results of fibrinogen might mean.

Find out what the key considerations are when prescribing these drugs. Includes CPD activity for pharmacists. Read more on Australian Prescriber website. Healthdirect Australia is not responsible for the content and advertising on the external website you are now entering.

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Please check and try again Agree to Terms required. Thank you for sharing our content. A message has been sent to your recipient's email address with a link to the content webpage. While expressing prothrombin times compared to a control value was seen as an improvement, it was still insufficient. The ISI is a numerical value representing the responsiveness of any given commercial system relative to the international standard. It takes into account the variability in results obtained using different commercial systems in calculating the result.

In this way, results from different laboratories and countries can be compared more readily. We regularly monitor the INR of people using warfarin in order to balance the risk of excessive bleeding when the INR is too high, meaning that the blood is too thin against the risk of clotting or thrombosis when the INR is too low or the blood is too thick. INR values over 4. Evidence suggests that more frequent testing will result in more time within the desired INR target range.

Monitoring then occurs every 2—3 days for the next few weeks, and then with decreasing frequency depending on the stability of the results. If the INR remains stable, testing can be spread as far apart as every four weeks. Many medications, foods and even concurrent illness are known to interact with warfarin and therefore interfere with the INR. These affect the way warfarin is processed by the body. Therefore, you should consult your doctor if you:.

The desired INR depends on the reason why you need anticoagulation. The three most common reasons for warfarin use, along with their target INRs, include:. INR can be monitored either by laboratory blood testing or by using a portable monitoring device.

Laboratory blood testing is the traditional practice in Australia. Blood is drawn from a vein, typically by a GP, and sent to the laboratory for testing. There is a time delay before results are returned to the GP, who analyses the need for dose adjustment with the help of computerised algorithms. The practitioner will then let you know whether a dose adjustment is needed. A dose adjustment will be required if your INR value for the test is outside the therapeutic range too high or too low.

Portable devices, introduced in the s, allow you, your doctor or another health practitioner e. The blood drop is placed on a test strip which is inserted into the portable device so that the clotting time can be measured. These devices have been demonstrated accurate and reliable and to provide reproducible results which are similar to those obtained through laboratory testing. If the device is used for monitoring in a health facility, a health practitioner often a nurse conducts the blood test and records the result on your behalf.

In consultation with the doctor prescribing warfarin or based on a computerised algorithm, the health practitioner can notify you immediately if any dose adjustments are necessary. Benefits have been associated with this testing method. In particular, obtaining on the spot results enables better management of oral anti-coagulation therapy, as dose adjustments can be made immediately and discussed with the health practitioner face to face rather than over the phone.

Some people also prefer not needing to have blood drawn from a vein using a needle with this method. When a portable device is used for home monitoring, you usually conduct the test yourself. However, in some countries health practitioners can visit you in your homes or aged care settings to conduct blood monitoring. This enables you to have your INR monitored without the inconvenience of attending a healthcare facility.

Self-testing has the advantage of being more convenient and making it easier for you to take the correct dose of warfarin at the correct time. People who use this method are more likely to monitor their INR more frequently.

INR international normalized ratio stands for a way of standardizing the results of prothrombin time tests, no matter the testing method. It lets your doctor understand results in the same way even when they come from different labs and different test methods.

Blood clotting factors are needed for blood to clot coagulation. Prothrombin, or factor II, is one of the clotting factors made by the liver.

Vitamin K is needed to make prothrombin and other clotting factors. The prothrombin time is made longer by:. An abnormal prothrombin time is often caused by liver disease or injury or by treatment with blood thinners. The U. If you need a PT test frequently and for a long time, you may want to ask your doctor if this home test is an option for you.

In some cases, the health professional will take a sample of blood from your fingertip instead of your vein. For a finger stick blood test, the health professional will clean your hand, use a lancet to puncture the skin, and place a small tube on the puncture site to collect your blood. When a blood sample is taken, you may feel nothing at all from the needle. Or you might feel a quick sting or pinch.

There is very little chance of having a problem from this test. When a blood sample is taken, a small bruise may form at the site. Each lab has a different range for what's normal.