Emergency Nursing Orientation 3.0: Cardiovascular Emergencies Practice Exam

During systemic thrombolysis for STEMI, bleeding risk is globally elevated because the medication dissolves clots throughout the body, impairing hemostasis. Any procedure that punctures skin or penetrates vessels—such as inserting arterial or central venous lines—creates a bleeding site that can be difficult to control and may lead to serious hemorrhage, hematoma, or even intracranial bleeding. Because of this, unnecessary invasive lines should be avoided or postponed during thrombolysis to minimize bleeding complications.

Noninvasive tests like echocardiography (especially transthoracic) have minimal bleeding risk, inhaled therapies such as nebulized bronchodilators do not significantly affect systemic coagulation, and physical therapy itself does not pose the same bleeding threat as vascular access. The key concept is prioritizing procedures to limit bleeding while thrombolysis is active, making invasive line placement the procedure to avoid if possible.