Delayed Surgery Does Not Reduce Transfusion Rates in Low-Energy Hip Fractures on Direct Oral Anticoagulants

To compare transfusion rates in patients on direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) with nonanticoagulated patients undergoing hip fracture surgery and, secondarily, to determine whether time to surgery or complications differ between these groups.

Multicenter retrospective cohort.

Three tertiary care, academic, Level I trauma centers.

Acute, operatively treated, low-energy hip fracture patients 55 years of age and older were included. Anticoagulated patients were matched in a 1:2 ratio to "control" nonanticoagulated hip fracture patients using propensity score matching.

The primary outcome was incidence of perioperative transfusion. The secondary outcomes included time to surgery, length of stay, and 90-day complications, readmissions, reoperations, and mortality.

One hundred thirty-two patients with hip fracture admitted on DOACs were identified (107 factor Xa inhibitors, 25 dabigatran) and were matched to 262 "control" nonanticoagulated patients. There was no difference in overall transfusion rates between anticoagulation and control groups (43.2%; n = 57 DOAC vs. 39.7%; n = 104 control; P = 0.517). The median time from admission to surgery was 41.7 hours in the DOAC group and 26.0 hours in the control group (P < 0.001). There were no differences in 90-day complication, readmission, reoperation, or mortality rates between DOAC and control groups. Comparing DOAC patients undergoing surgery within 24 hours and after 24 hours, there were no differences in transfusion rates (P = 0.558) or overall complication rates (P = 0.179).

This study supports growing evidence that DOAC use should not be a determining factor in delaying surgery for patients with hip fracture who are otherwise medically optimized.

Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.