Death and defeat: Joseph Stalin suffered atherosclerosis due to his heavy smoking. Early morning on March 1 Stalin went to bed. At dawn Stalin did not leave his bedroom. His guards found it unusual that Stalin didn't wake up at his usual time. They were under orders to not disturb Stalin and left him alone for the rest of the day.
In patients with previous arterial embolism, only 4 daily doses of warfarin should be withheld preoperatively and the INR should be measured the day before surgery to determine if a small dose of vitamin K is needed to accelerate the reversal of anticoagulation.
It is appropriate to use Lovenox both before and after surgery. The risk of bleeding is slightly higher if administered before surgery but not excessively so. If Lovenox is administered 6-8 hours after surgery and compression boots are used after surgery then you can reduce the risk of bleeding without appreciably increasing the risk of a blood clot. Having said that, abdominoplasty does have a higher risk of a blood clot compared to other cosmetic procedures.