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Background: Most invasive procedures require the interruption of oral anticoagulation. In 2015, an international randomised trial demonstrated that perioperative bridging caused more harm than benefit in most anticoagulated patients with atrial fibrillation, leading to a more restrictive Dutch national guideline in April 2016. The objective of the present study was to analyse the integration of the 2016 Dutch guideline for perioperative antithrombotic management from after publication until update of hospital protocols., Methods: This is a retrospective cohort study of patients on vitamin K antagonists undergoing a surgical procedure between April 2016 and June 2017., Results: The proportion of high-risk patients with venous thromboembolism or atrial fibrillation receiving bridging therapy decreased from 91% and 77%, respectively at the start of the study to 33% in both groups in the last months. In high-risk patients with a mechanical heart valve, the bridging rate remained stable at 70-80% for 12 months and increased to 100% in the last 3 months. Protocol adherence for high-risk patients decreased from 80% to below 43%. The 30-day incidence of major bleeding was 4.1% (15.2% in bridged patients and 0.7% in non-bridged patients) and 10.3% for clinically relevant non-major bleeding (23.9% in bridged patients and 6.0% in non-bridged patients). The incidence of thrombo-embolism was 0.5%., Conclusion: New evidence from the Dutch national guideline on perioperative bridging was adopted by physicians before the local hospital protocol was updated. Low incidence of thromboembolism in non-bridged patients and high incidence of bleeding in bridged patients support a more restrictive bridging policy.

Background: Elastic compression stockings (ECS) are uncomfortable to wear but may prevent post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS). The ability to predict PTS may help clinical decision making regarding the optimal duration of ECS after deep vein thrombosis (DVT)., Aims: Predefined endpoint analysis of the Octavia study that randomized patients who compliantly used ECS up to one year after DVT to continue or discontinue ECS treatment. Primary aim was to identify predictors of PTS., Methods: Patient characteristics were collected and ultrasonography was performed to assess reflux, residual thrombosis and persistent thrombus load 12 months after DVT. Multivariable analyses were performed to identify factors related to PTS., Results: Thrombus score ≥ 3, BMI ≥ 26, duration of symptoms before DVT diagnosis ≥ 8 days and a Villalta score of 2-4 points were statistically significant predictors of PTS. The predictive value for PTS for the assessed variables was not different between the 2 treatment groups. In the stop ECS group, 3.2% (95%CI 0.08-18) of patients without any predictors for PTS were diagnosed with mild PTS during follow-up, and none with severe PTS, for a sensitivity of 98% (95% CI 89-100), a specificity of 14% (95% CI 10-20), a positive predictive value of 20% (95% CI 19-22), and a negative predictive value of 97% (95% CI 81-100)., Conclusion: We identified 4 predictors of PTS occurring in the 2nd year after DVT. Our findings may be used to decide on whether to continue ECS treatment for an additional year, after one year of compliant ECS use, keeping in mind that patients with none of the predictors will have the lowest PTS incidence., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)