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Effectiveness of a pilot intervention to reduce abciximab-related bleeding in patients with acute coronary syndromes
Ana de Lorenzo-Pinto1, Héctor Bueno, Ana Herranz-Alonso
1Pharmacy Department, Instituto de Investigación Sanitaria Gregorio Marañón, Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañón, C/Doctor Esquerdo 46, 28007, Madrid, Spain, ana.lorenzo@salud.madrid.org.
Insights
A pilot program effectively reduced key risk factors for bleeding in patients receiving abciximab for acute coronary syndromes (ACS). Further trials are needed to confirm statistically significant reductions in bleeding events.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Pharmacology
- Patient Safety
Background:
- Reducing bleeding is critical for acute coronary syndromes (ACS) patients.
- Abciximab is a medication used in ACS treatment.
- Bleeding events are a significant concern in patients treated with abciximab.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the effectiveness of a pilot program in reducing abciximab-related bleeding.
- To assess optimization measures for bleeding event reduction in ACS patients.
Main Methods:
- A pilot program was implemented by Pharmacy and Cardiology departments.
- The study compared pre-intervention and post-intervention phases.
- The main outcome measure was the percentage of bleeding events.
Main Results:
- The intervention significantly reduced unknown body weight (24.4% to 1.4%), overdosing (31.4% to 0%), and combination with bivalirudin (12.8% to 1.4%).
- While bleeding events were numerically reduced, the differences were not statistically significant.
- The program successfully decreased factors associated with increased bleeding risk.
Conclusions:
- A multidisciplinary prevention program can lower bleeding risks in patients treated with abciximab.
- Larger trials are necessary to confirm statistically significant reductions in bleeding incidence.
Background And Objective:
Reducing bleeding events is a priority in patients diagnosed with acute coronary syndromes (ACS). The effectiveness of optimization measures for reducing abciximab-related bleeding was evaluated through the implementation of a pilot program developed by the Pharmacy and the Cardiology Departments at a tertiary-care hospital.
Main Outcome Measure:
Percentage of bleeding events.
Results:
Intervention was effective in reducing the incidence of the three factors associated with an increased risk of bleeding between the pre-intervention phase (n = 86) and the post-intervention phase (n = 73): unknown body weight (24.4 vs. 1.4 %, p = 0.0001), overdosing (31.4 vs. 0 %, p < 0.0001) and combination with bivalirudin (12.8 vs. 1.4 %, p = 0.016). Bleeding events associated with these factors were numerically reduced in all three cases but these differences were not statistically significant between both periods.
Conclusion:
The implementation of a multidisciplinary prevention program can reduce situations associated with an increased risk of bleeding in patients treated with abciximab. Larger scale trials are needed to confirm whether such programs can also reduce the incidence of bleeding at a statistically significant level.
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