Outcomes of different perioperative management strategies of patients on chronic anticoagulation in elective total hip and knee arthroplasty: a systematic review

INTRODUCTION: There are currently different management guidelines for patients undergoing elective total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA) that are on long-term anticoagulation. The timing of discontinuation and restarting the anticoagulation is challenging during the postoperative care, which often involves general practitioners and physiotherapists. METHODS: The systematic review followed the PRISMA guidelines and included 3 databases: PubMed/MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science Core Collection. It was registered in the International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis (PROSPERO) under the registration number: CRD42023408906. The risk of bias assessment was performed using the Methodological index for non-randomized studies (MINORS) criteria. RESULTS: Six retrospective studies involving 727 patients with therapeutic anticoagulation (1,540 controls) for elective THA, TKA and revision arthroplasty have been included. The follow-up ranged from 30 days to 1 year postoperatively. All studies evaluated outcomes of warfarin therapeutic anticoagulation versus prophylactic dosages of one or more of the following: warfarin, aspirin, low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) and unfractionated low-dose heparin (UFH). One study did not discontinue therapeutic anticoagulation. Two studies reported no significant differences in complications between groups, whilst 3 studies had significantly higher rates of superficial wound infections, revision surgeries, postoperative haematomas, and prosthetic joint infections (PJI). CONCLUSION: Different anticoagulation-related perioperative management strategies achieve different outcomes following elective arthroplasty in patients with therapeutic chronic anticoagulation. There is contradictory evidence regarding the need for the discontinuation of therapeutic warfarin. Retrospective data showed that individual risk stratification with multi-modal prophylaxis resulted in minimal complications. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Systematic Review of Level III studies.