Outcomes of a preoperative “bridging” strategy with glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors to prevent perioperative stent thrombosis in patients with drug-eluting stents who undergo surgery necessitating interruption of thienopyridine administration

AIMS: Surgery after drug-eluting stent (DES) implantation may be associated with increased risk for perioperative stent thrombosis (ST). METHODS AND RESULTS: We evaluated the outcomes of 67 patients who underwent non-cardiac (n=51) or cardiac (n=16) surgery after DES implantation at our institution between 2008 and 2010 and who underwent preoperative "bridging" with a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor. Surgery occurred after a mean time of 13.9 ± 1.7 and 8.7 ± 2 months post stenting for non-cardiac (NCS) and cardiac surgery, respectively. Glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitors were administered preoperatively for a mean of 7.1 ± 0.4 and 7.8 ± 0.7 days, respectively, then discontinued four to six hours before surgery. Most patients received aspirin through the perioperative period (33 NCS patients and 15 cardiac surgery patients). Clopidogrel was restarted as early as possible in the postoperative period. In the non-cardiac surgery group, two patients (3.9%, 95% confidence intervals 0.5% to 13.5%) suffered acute ST in the immediate postoperative period and four patients suffered major bleeding by the Global Utilisation of Streptokinase and Tissue Plasminogen Activator for Occluded Coronary Arteries (GUSTO) criteria. One cardiac surgery patient had probable ST one hour postoperatively. CONCLUSIONS: In spite of preoperative "bridging" with a glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor, postoperative stent thrombosis can still occur in patients with prior DES undergoing surgery requiring antiplatelet medication interruption.