Colonic endoscopic mucosal resection in patients taking anticoagulants: Is heparin bridging therapy necessary?

Heparin bridging therapy (HBT) reportedly increases the risk of post-procedural bleeding, and its safety during endoscopic interventions remains unclear. We aimed to evaluate the effects of peri-procedural HBT in patients taking anticoagulants who underwent colonic endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) for polyps.

Patients who underwent colonic EMR while taking a single anticoagulant agent were enrolled in this study. Anticoagulants were temporarily ceased in all patients either without (the non-HBT group, prospectively enrolled) or with HBT (the HBT group, retrospectively enrolled). The incidences of post-procedural bleeding and anemia exacerbation and their length of hospitalization were evaluated and compared.

There were altogether 43 consecutive adult patients (30 men; mean age 72.2 ± 7.4 years) in the non-HBT group and 41 sex- and age-matched adults (32 men; mean age 72.9 ± 8.3 years) in the HBT group. There were no significant differences in the location, number or size of resected polyps between the two groups. The percentage of patients with post-procedural bleeding within 2 weeks after colonic EMR in the non-HBT group was lower than that in the HBT group (2.3% vs 9.8%, P = 0.15), although the frequency of anemia exacerbation was not significantly different between the two groups. The total hospitalization length was shorter in the non-HBT compared with the HBT group (4.5 days vs 6.0 days, P < 0.001).

No patient in either group developed embolism during hospitalization. Colonic EMR with the temporary cessation of anticoagulants without HBT may be acceptable and beneficial for patients taking anticoagulants.