Artif Organs. 2022 Feb 22. doi: 10.1111/aor.14217. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator (ICD) surgery in patients with implanted left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) is associated with an increased risk of bleeding complications because of the need to ensure that these patients are adequately anticoagulated. Our study aimed to evaluate the safety of our new strategy of uninterrupted oral anticoagulation compared to heparin-bridging during the surgical interval.
METHODS: Between 01/2009 and 01/2020, 116 patients with LVAD underwent ICD surgery. Since 01/2015, 60 patients were operated under continued sufficient oral anticoagulation with a vitamin k antagonist (VKA group). Fifty-six patients underwent a heparin-bridging regimen (heparin group). Demographics, perioperative data, complications, and mortality were analyzed.
RESULTS: Bleeding complications attributable to the surgical intervention occurred more often (19.6% vs. 10.0%, p=0.142) and at a higher rate of re-exploratory surgery (14.3 % vs. 5.0%, p=0.088) in the heparin group without reaching statistical significance. Moreover, the heparin group patients’ postoperative total length of stay was 10 days longer. (17.8 ± 23.8 days vs. 8.3 ± 9.5 days, p=0.007). There were no procedure-related deaths, no thromboembolic events, and no LVAD-related thrombosis.
CONCLUSION: Our strategy of uninterrupted oral anticoagulation is safe and results in a reduction by more than half the number of days in hospital without an increase in adverse events.
PMID:35192216 | DOI:10.1111/aor.14217
