[ENT surgery in patients with anticoagulants and platelet aggregation inhibitors]

Patients with antiplatelet and antithrombotic therapy (AP/AT) represent a substantial proportion of ear, nose and throat (ENT) patients. Despite the ubiquitous consideration of bleeding and ischemic/thrombembolic risk, no detailed assessment of the perioperative setting in an ENT cohort is available in the literature.

The goal of the present work is to give a detailed assessment of patients with AP/AT in an ENT cohort resulting in ENT-specific recommendations for daily routine.

In all, 400 randomized patients were asked regarding analgetic therapy in acute pain. Medical data of 5211 patients who underwent head and neck surgery were analyzed for AP/AT therapy. Therapeutic strategies, the perioperative AP/AT therapy, duration of intensive care treatment and hospitalization (ICT/H), application of erythrocytes and internistic/neurolocigal complication data were analyzed in patients with/without AP/AT.

Nearly 75 % of our patients were taking AP/AT due to coronary heart disease (CHD), peripheral arterial disease (PAD), cardiac arrhythmia, or cardiovascular disease (CVD). Patients' questionnaire revealed that 31 % of our patients use acetylsalicylic acid in acute pain, which represents 10 % of the overall AP/AT cohort. Head and neck surgery in patients with AP/AT showed an elevated bleeding frequency (p = 0.006) without an elevated risk for internistic/neurological complications. ICT/H were remarkably prolonged (p = 0.006; p = 0.0004).

Head and neck surgery in patients with AP/AT can be routinely performed. Indication for intensive care, endotracheal intubation, and tracheostomy should be made generously due to high requirements of airway management in ENT. Ischemic/thrombembolic and bleeding risk requires careful assessment in an interdisciplinary setting.