Perioperative management of antithrombotic drugs in the real world: study of the impact of not following the consensus document

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES: In order to standardise the periprocedural management of antithrombotic drugs, a national and multidisciplinary consensus document was drawn up in 2018. This study analyses the follow-up of this consensus and its outcome in the perioperative setting. METHODS: Sub-analysis of the REQXAA study (observational, prospective, multicentre with 30-day follow-up) in patients scheduled for surgery. Antithrombotic management was considered appropriate according to the consensus document. Logistic regression analysis was used to study the effect of appropriate management and other variables on the incidence of adverse thrombotic and/or haemorrhagic events (odds ratio (OR) and confidence interval (95% CI)). RESULTS: A total of 506 patients were included (57.5% antiplatelet therapy; 38.9% anticoagulant therapy; 3.6% dual therapy), with 50 adverse events recorded (overall incidence 9.9%), 46 of which were haemorrhagic. In 50.2% of patients, management was suboptimal, which was associated with a significant increase in adverse events (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.2-4.2). The following factors independently increased the risk: inappropriate indication for bridging therapy (OR 3.9, 95% CI 1.9-7.9), chronic kidney disease (OR 2.0, 95% CI 1.1-3.9) and high thrombotic risk (OR 3.7, 95% CI 1.6-8.6). Patients with moderate-to-high bleeding risk and suboptimal management had a higher risk of bleeding (OR 4.4, 95% CI 1.6-11.9). CONCLUSIONS: Failure to follow the consensus document for the perioperative management of antithrombotic drugs is associated with an increase in adverse events. The implementation of multidisciplinary protocols in the perioperative period, following current recommendations, could improve these outcomes.