Antiplatelet Therapy And Blunt Head Trauma

All trauma professionals are aware of the evils of anticoagulation in patients who sustain traumatic brain injury. Warfarin is one of the most common anticoagulants encountered, but there is also a growing number of poor outcomes in patients with the newer, non-reversible agents.

But what about antiplatelet agents like aspirin and clopidogrel (Plavix)? Many physicians worry about these drugs, but is it warranted? Two Level I trauma centers in the Chicago area reviewed their experience. They retrospectively reviewed the records of patients over 40 years old who sustained blunt head trauma. A total of 1547 patients were identified over a 4 year period. They analyzed these records for in-hospital mortality, need for neurosurgical intervention, and length of stay.

Here are the factoids:

  • 27% of patients were taking antiplatelet agents. Patients also taking warfarin were excluded.
  • 21% were taking aspirin alone, 2% clopidogrel alone, and 4% both drugs
  • Patients taking the drugs averaged about 10 years older than those who were not
  • Overall, injury severity was relatively low (average ISS 10). A disproportionate number of more severely injured patients were not taking antiplatelet agents.
  • There was no difference of incidence of intracranial hemorrhage (45%), neurosurgical intervention (3%), or mortality (6%) between the two groups
  • Hospital length of stay averaged about 6.5 days, but long LOS was a bit more common in the antiplatelet agent group.

Bottom line: This is one more in a series of papers scrutinizing trauma and antiplatelet agents. A few previous studies have shown an adverse effect, but they have been much smaller series. I don’t believe the jury is in yet, so watch these patients carefully. A 6 or 12 hours repeat scan is probably in order, along with frequent neuro monitoring.  It’s probably not worthwhile to actively try to reverse them by giving platelets unless there is obvious life-threatening hemorrhage or sudden neurologic change (see below).

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Reference: Outcomes in traumatic brain injury for patients presenting on antiplatelet therapy. Am Surg 81(2):128-132, 2015.

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