By quickly removing the cause of the stroke, it may help people recover more fully from a stroke. Aside from surgery, a drug called tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is currently the only federally approved treatment for stroke-causing blood clots. Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is given through a vein in the arm after the doctor has confirmed the stroke's cause, and there is no evidence of bleeding. This therapy is usually administered in small doses and combined with other drugs, because it is difficult to purify, and therefore rather expensive. Around the clock, a team of stroke specialists at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin is available with extensive experience in rapidly administering tPA. Patients with symptoms of ischemic stroke and embolism If they arrive in the hospital within the first 4.5 hours, they will be treated with thrombolytic injection, which can reduce disability and risk of death. However, they do not break up or dissolve existing blood clots. Clot-dissolving drugs are not for everyone and the stroke team at Sinai-Grace is trained to quickly identify those patients who are the best candidates. There are just two US Food and Drug Administration-approved treatments for ischemic stroke: a clot-dissolving drug and a device that threads through arteries to … Sometimes, tPA can be given up to 4.5 hours after stroke symptoms started. During the first few hours following an ischemic stroke, intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (IV tPA) and other drugs may be used in select patients to remove or dissolve clots. These medications prevent new clots from forming as well as current clots from growing any larger. Clot-dissolving drugs are given within four-and-a-half hours of the onset of symptoms. Clot-Dissolving Drugs. For patients who arrive late to the hospital that they cannot give blood clot-dissolving drugs. Warfarin (Coumadin) and Heparin are the two most common anticoagulants, but newer anticoagulant medications like Xarelto, Pradaxa, and Eliquis are also widely prescribed by doctors. Tissue Plasminogen Activator Aids Heart Attack and Stroke Victims Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) is currently the most expensive drug … Aspirin and Aggrenox (dipyridamole): These drugs have a modest effect on platelet "stickiness" but cause fewer bleeding-related adverse effects than the other antiplatelet drugs.They are often used in an attempt to reduce the risk of heart attack or stroke in people whose risk is elevated. Mechanical Clot Removal Devices to Loosen and Remove Clots The first proven treatment for ischemic stroke is recombinant tissue plasminogen activator, or tPA, a clot-dissolving medication. RAPID and aggressive treatment of ischemic strokes with clot-dissolving drugs may prevent severe disability or death in many patients, say presenters at the recent 78th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), in Chicago, Ill. This drug restores blood flow by dissolving the blood clot causing your stroke. This therapy, administered intravenously, has to be provided within the first four-and-a-half hours after a stroke and has been shown to … The most effective stroke treatment, clot-dissolving drugs, must be used within the first few hours after a stroke begins, which limits the number of stroke patients who can benefit from it.