Reducing Surgical Complications in Spine Patients Through a Medication Management Support Program

A hospital-wide medication management program was implemented to ensure that high-risk patients would systematically pause antiplatelet and anticoagulant medications. We analyzed complications before and during the implementation of this program.

The goal of the study was to determine if a medication management support program was effective for reducing perioperative complications, including hemorrhage, myocardial infarction, stroke, pulmonary embolism, and deep vein thrombosis.

Using data from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database, we examined the presence of 5 complications before and during the implementation of a medication management support program. There were 9732 patients in the clinic population who underwent elective spine surgery between 2011 and 2020 and were included in this analysis. Of those 9732 patients, 7205 had surgery before the introduction of the program, whereas 2527 had surgery at some point after the program was introduced. We conducted a series of Pearson's χ 2 tests to determine the relative frequencies of the complications before and during the program.

Results showed that during the implementation of the program, patients were relatively less likely to experience hemorrhage (3.16% vs. 1.11%; P <0.001). The reductions in thrombotic complications were clinically significant: myocardial infarction (0.12% vs. 0.00%), stroke (0.10% vs. 0.04%), pulmonary embolism (0.33% vs. 0.28%), and deep vein thrombosis (0.36% vs. 0.28%). These P values ranged from P =0.08 for myocardial infarction to P =0.67 for pulmonary embolism.

The use of this medication management support program appears effective for reducing the need for blood transfusions and thrombotic complications. While promising, the results should be interpreted with caution as we do not know whether this type of program will be effective for other hospital systems.