what is the difference between how anticoagulant antiplatelet and thrombolytic medications work?
To break a clot, you need a thrombolytic like tPA or Streptokinase. Antiplatelets, as the name implies, work by preventing platelets from clumping and forming a clot. Anticoagulants don't work on platelets. They do their work by inhibiting clotting factors which are part of the coagulation cascade.