Abciximab (intravenous route)

Reopro

Abciximab is used to lessen the chance of heart attack in people who need percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), a procedure to open blocked arteries of the heart. A heart attack may occur when a blood vessel in the heart is blocked by a blood clot. Blood clots can sometimes form during PCI. Abciximab reduces the chance that a harmful clot will form by preventing certain cells in the blood from clumping together. Abciximab is used with aspirin and heparin, which are other medicines used to keep your blood from clotting. This medicine is available only with your doctor's prescription.

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For this medicine, the following should be considered: Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to this medicine or any other medicines. Also tell your health care professional if you have any other types of allergies, such as to foods, dyes, preservatives, or animals. For non-prescription products, read the label or package ingredients carefully. Studies on this medicine have been done only in adult patients, and there is no specific information comparing use of abciximab in children with use in other age groups. Bleeding problems may be especially likely to occur in elderly patients, who are usually more sensitive than younger adults tot the effects of abciximab. It is important that you discuss the use of this medicine with your doctor. There are no adequate studies in women for determining infant risk when using this medication during breastfeeding. Weigh the potential benefits against the potential risks before taking this medication while breastfeeding. Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking this medicine, it is especially important that your healthcare professional know if you are taking any of the medicines listed below. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive. Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is not recommended. Your doctor may decide not to treat you with this medication or change some of the other medicines you take. Using this medicine with any of the following medicines is usually not recommended, but may be required in some cases. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines. Using this medicine with any of the following medicines may cause an increased risk of certain side effects, but using both drugs may be the best treatment for you. If both medicines are prescribed together, your doctor may change the dose or how often you use one or both of the medicines. Certain medicines should not be used at or around the time of eating food or eating certain types of food since interactions may occur. Using alcohol or tobacco with certain medicines may also cause interactions to occur. The following interactions have been selected on the basis of their potential significance and are not necessarily all-inclusive. The presence of other medical problems may affect the use of this medicine. Make sure you tell your doctor if you have any other medical problems, especially: Also, tell your doctor if you have received abciximab or heparin before and had a reaction to either of them called thrombocytopenia (a low platelet count in the blood), or if new blood clots formed while you were receiving the medicine. In addition, tell your doctor if you have recently had any bleeding from the stomach, previously had a stroke, recently fallen or suffered a blow to the body or head, or had major medical or dental surgery . These events may increase the risk of serious bleeding when you are taking abciximab.