Adverse events associated with anticoagulation therapy in the periendoscopic period.

Background: Chronic anticoagulation has been demonstrated to be a risk factor for GI bleeding (GIB) in patients undergoing endoscopic procedures.
Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of GIB prospectively in a large cohort of patients enrolled in the Clinical Outcomes Research Initiative (CORI) database.
Design: Anticoagulated patients undergoing endoscopic procedures were interviewed by phone 30 to 45 days after the procedure to determine potential adverse events and management of warfarin therapy in the periendoscopic period.
Setting: Participating CORI sites, Stanford University Hospital, Veterans Administration Palo Alto Health Care System.
Main Outcome Measurement: Postprocedural hemorrhagic or thrombotic events.
Results: Thirteen CORI sites agreed to participate, including 120,886 procedures in 95,807 patients. We contacted 929 patients on warfarin therapy and enrolled 483 patients (52%). The majority of the patients were men with atrial fibrillation undergoing colonoscopy. Warfarin was temporarily suspended in 437 (90%) of the patients before the procedure, and 114 (22%) received periprocedural heparin therapy. There were 10 major hemorrhagic events (2%), and the rate of hemorrhage was not higher in the patients receiving periprocedural heparin therapy (P = .1). However, polypectomy was a risk factor for postprocedural hemorrhage (P = .02). One fatal stroke (0.2%) occurred in a patient 2 weeks after endoscopy; however, information regarding warfarin management was not available.
Limitations: Small number of enrolled patients and lack of control group. Lack of information regarding prothrombin time before procedure, concurrent antiplatelet agents, and timing of bleeding in 50% of the cases. The study was underpowered to definitively conclude benefits of current guidelines regarding thrombosis or bleeding.
Conclusions: Postprocedural hemorrhagic events were not increased in anticoagulated patients. Most patients receiving bridging therapy were managed according to current society guidelines.
(Copyright 2010 American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.)