Contraindicated medication use in dialysis patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention

The US Food and Drug Administration guides clinicians through drug labeling of medications that are contraindicated or not recommended for use in specific patient groups. Little is known about the use of such medications and their effects on outcomes in clinical practice.

To investigate the use of the contraindicated/not-recommended agents enoxaparin and eptifibatide among dialysis patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and their association with outcomes.

Data from 829 US hospitals on 22 778 dialysis patients who underwent PCI between January 1, 2004, and August 31, 2008.

In-hospital bleeding and death.

Five thousand eighty-four patients (22.3%) received a contraindicated antithrombotic; of these patients, 2375 (46.7%) received enoxaparin, 3261 (64.1%) received eptifibatide, and 552 (10.9%) received both. Compared with patients who did not receive a contraindicated antithrombotic, patients who did had higher rates of in-hospital bleeding (5.6% vs 2.9%; odds ratio [OR], 1.93; 95% confidence interval [CI],1.66-2.23) and death (6.5% vs 3.9%; OR, 1.68; 95% CI, 1.46-1.95). After multivariable adjustment, patients receiving contraindicated antithrombotics had significantly higher risks of in-hospital bleeding (OR, 1.66; 95% CI, 1.43-1.92) and death (OR, 1.24; 95% CI, 1.04-1.48). In 10 158 patients matched by propensity scores, receipt of contraindicated antithrombotics remained significantly associated with in-hospital bleeding (OR, 1.63; 95% CI, 1.35-1.98) but not in-hospital death (OR, 1.15; 95% CI, 0.97-1.36).

In a sample of dialysis patients undergoing PCI, 22.3% received a contraindicated antithrombotic medication. In propensity-matched analysis, receipt of these medications was significantly associated with an increased risk of in-hospital major bleeding.