Safety of Cold Polypectomy for Colorectal Polyps in Patients on Antithrombotic Medication

The cold polypectomy (CP) technique has been increasingly used in recent years. However, there have been few studies about post-polypectomy bleeding (PPB) in patients who underwent CP and who were on antithrombotic drugs. The objective of this study was to determine the safety of CP in patients on antithrombotic medication.

The subjects were patients who underwent CP in our hospital between April 2014 and March 2016. PPB rates were examined in relation to the use of antithrombotic medication.

CP was performed to remove 2,466 polyps in 1,003 patients. There were 549 polyps (22.3%) in186 patients in the antithrombotic group and 1,917 polyps (77.7%) in 817 patients in the non-antithrombotic group. PPB occurred in 0.55% (3/549) of patients in the antithrombotic group and in 0.10% (2/1,917) of patients in the non-antithrombotic group, showing no significant difference (p = 0.07). Patients in the antithrombotic group in whom PPB occurred included 1 aspirin user with 1 polyp and 1 aspirin plus clopidogrel user with 2 polyps. No PPB occurred in patients on other antithrombotic agents or receiving heparin bridging. There was no significant difference between PPB rates in patients with small polyps (6-9 mm) in the antithrombotic and non-antithrombotic groups, but there was a significant difference between PPB rates in the 2 groups for patients with diminutive group (1-5 mm).

CP is a safe procedure even in patients on antithrombotic medication.