What is Alteplase Injection used for?
Last updated September 7, 2026.
**Alteplase injection is a clot-dissolving medicine given in a hospital to treat acute ischemic stroke, heart attack, and large pulmonary embolism, and at a much smaller dose to clear a blocked central venous catheter.** Which use applies to you depends on what kind of clot is involved and how much time has passed. In ischemic stroke, alteplase works best when it starts within a few hours of the first symptom, which is why getting to an emergency department fast changes what treatment is possible. It is never a pill or a home injection, and it is not used for bleeding strokes, so a brain scan comes first. Because alteplase breaks down clots everywhere, bleeding is the main risk, and your care team reviews recent surgery, head injury, and blood thinners before giving it. Keep an updated list of your medicines and doses somewhere easy to reach, since that list speeds up the decision in an emergency.
What to do
- Call 911 first: For sudden face drooping, arm weakness, or slurred speech, call 911 rather than driving yourself, because ambulance teams can alert the stroke center ahead of arrival.
- Note the time: Write down or remember when symptoms started or when the person was last seen normal, since that single detail decides whether alteplase can be given.
- Share your medicine list: Tell the team about blood thinners like warfarin, apixaban, or rivaroxaban, plus recent surgery or head injury, all of which affect whether alteplase is safe.
- Expect a scan: A CT or MRI of the brain is done before alteplase in stroke to rule out bleeding, because the same drug that helps a clot would worsen a hemorrhage.
- Watch for bleeding after: Report new headache, vomiting, blood in urine or stool, or bleeding that will not stop to your nurse or clinician right away.
- Ask about the catheter dose: If your port or PICC line stops flowing, ask your infusion team whether a low-dose alteplase instillation can reopen it before the line is replaced.
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