Hand and wrist surgery on anticoagulants and antiplatelets: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Approximately 2% of the population are anticoagulated and over 50% of over 65-year-olds are prescribed antiplatelet agents. Several systematic reviews have shown the safety of interrupting anticoagulation and antiplatelets for non-emergency surgery, although such reviews excluded upper limb procedures and represents the rationale for this review.

The literature was systematically searched for studies concerning the outcomes of adult hand or wrist surgery on patients receiving anticoagulation or antiplatelet agents in direct comparison to controls (no anticoagulation or antiplatelet agents, or interruption of either). The primary outcome was reoperation for any complication related to postoperative bleeding, within 30 postoperative days.

Nine cohort studies (3628 individuals; 3863 operations) were included. Based on very low-quality evidence, anticoagulation did not affect the risk of reoperation for bleeding (RR 2.4 [95% CI 0.1, 57]; 3 studies, n=443) or bruising (RR 2.5 [95% CI 1.0, 6.3]; n=124; I²=0%). Based on low quality evidence, antiplatelet agents did not affect the risk of reoperation for bleeding (RR 0.8 [95% CI 0.3, 1.8]; 6 studies, n=1885; I²=0%) or bruising (RR 3.2 [95% CI 0.2, 44]; n=571; I²=66%). A sensitivity analysis showed that carpal tunnel decompression on patients receiving anticoagulants or antiplatelets appeared to be safe (RR 0.8 [95% CI 0.3, 1.8]; 6 studies, n=2077; I²=0%).

Given the sparsity of events (bleeding and bruising) and low-quality of the literature, no firm conclusions can be drawn. The decision to interrupt antiplatelets or anticoagulants should be made jointly with expert physicians and the patient. Registration: PROSPERO ID CRD42018087755.