Tag Archives: Operative Surgical Procedures

Guidelines for the perioperative management of anticoagulants

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One discussion this week focused on the perioperative management of NOACs.

Reference:  DynaMed Plus [Internet]. Ipswich (MA): EBSCO Information Services. 1995 -. Record No. 227537, Periprocedural management of patients on long-term anticoagulation; [updated 2018 Oct 10, cited 2018 Oct 12; [about 26 screens]. Emory login required.

Summary: The information below is from DynaMed Plus (2018). To view full information on the topic, click on the citation above.

Vitamin K antagonists in patients undergoing major surgery or procedures

  • Consider continuing vitamin K antagonist (VKA) therapy in patients who require minor dental procedures, minor dermatological procedures, or cataract surgery.
  • In those having a minor dental procedure, consider coadministering an oral hemostatic agent or stopping the VKA 2 to 3 days before the procedure.
  • In those undergoing implantation of a pacemaker or an implantable cardioverter device, consider continuing VKA therapy.
  • In those having a major surgery or procedure, stop VKA therapy 5 days before surgery.
  • Resume VKA therapy 12-24 hours after surgery when there is adequate hemostasis.

Bridging therapy in patients undergoing major surgery or procedures

  • If at low risk for thrombosis, consider omitting bridging therapy.
  • If at moderate risk for thrombosis, assess individual patient- and surgery-related factors when considering bridging therapy.
  • If at high risk for thrombosis consider bridging therapy with unfractionated heparin (UFH) or low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH).
  • For those receiving bridging therapy with UFH, stop UFH 4-6 hours before surgery.
  • For those receiving bridging therapy with therapeutic-dose LMWH, stop LMWH 24 hours before surgery.
  • For those receiving bridging therapy with UFH or therapeutic-dose LMWH and undergoing non-high-bleeding-risk surgery, consider resuming heparin 24 hours after surgery.
  • For those receiving bridging therapy with UFH or therapeutic-dose LMWH and undergoing high-bleeding-risk surgery, consider resuming heparin 48-72 hours after surgery.

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Resource Highlight: Chassin’s Operative Strategy in General Surgery, 4th ed.

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Chassin's Operative Strategy in General Surgery

“The Fourth Edition of Chassin’s Operative Strategy in General Surgery: An Expositive Atlas is designed to expand this comprehensive and unique general surgery reference while remaining true to the special character of the work. This unique text continues to provide an emphasis on surgical strategy that is unmatched by other textbooks of surgical technique.”

Emory users, access Chassin’s online here.

An algorithm for preoperative cardiac risk assessment

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One discussion last week involved cardiac arrest in the setting of hernia repair. The reference below was highlighted in the chief resident’s presentation.

Reference: Rafiq A, Skylar E, Bella JN. Cardiac evaluation and monitoring of patients undergoing noncardiac surgery. Health Services Insight. 2017 Feb 20; 9: 1178632916686074. doi: 10.1177/1178632916686074.

Summary: Cardiovascular complications in the perioperative period are one of the most common events leading to increased morbidity and mortality. Although such events are very small in number, they are associated with a high mortality rate making it essential for physicians to understand the importance of perioperative cardiovascular risk assessment and evaluation. Its involves a detailed process of history taking, patient’s medical profile, medications being used, functional status of the patient, and knowledge about the surgical procedure and its inherent risks.

That being said, this review by Rafiq et al (2017) aims to provide a concise but comprehensive analysis on all such aspects of perioperative cardiovascular risk assessment for noncardiac surgeries and provide a basic methodology toward such assessment and decision making.

The ideal approach toward perioperative cardiac risk assessment requires a multidisciplinary team or a dedicated perioperative team of physicians. This leads expert physicians in this field to be involved in patient care with improved communications among primary physicians, anesthesiologist, surgeons, the patient, family members of the patient, cardiologist, and all other ancillary departments of health care involved.

Figure 1: Algorithm for perioperative cardiac risk assessment prior to noncardiac surgery (p.2)

algorithm cardiac

The authors state that it is important to stress the fact that a majority of these recommendations are based, to a large extent, on observational studies and clinical experience. There are only few RCTs that address this matter. It is prudent that more randomized trials are needed to improve on current recommendations, hence leading to further improvement in patient care and management in the perioperative period.