Antiplatelet agents in perioperative noncardiac surgeries: to maintain or to suspend?

BACKGROUND: When prescribing antiplatelet agents, physicians face the challenge of protecting patients from thromboembolic events without inducing bleeding damage. However, especially in the perioperative period, the use of these medications requires a carefully balanced assessment of their risks and benefits. OBJECTIVE: To conduct a systematic review to check whether the antiplatelet agent is to be maintained or suspended in the perioperative period of noncardiac surgeries. SEARCH STRATEGY: A comprehensive literature search using Science Direct, Scopus, MEDLINE-PubMed, and Web of Science was undertaken. SELECTION CRITERIA: Clinical trials of noncardiac surgeries with patients taking regular anti-platelet therapy, published between 2013 and 2018. RESULTS: A total of 1,302 studies were initially identified, with only four meeting the inclusion criteria. The selected studies were conducted in different countries such as, including India (2), Serbia (1), and the USA (1). The age group was similar in all studies, from 61 to 75 years. The most frequent surgery was related to tooth extraction and transurethral resection of bladder cancer. There was a group of patients who used single antiplatelet agents and groups who used single therapy and double therapy. Acetylsalicylic acid was the common drug in all studies. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the clinical trials were classified as good quality and that it was not necessary to suspend antiplatelet therapy prior to surgical procedures such as dental extraction and transurethral resection of bladder cancer. It should be noted that it is necessary to jointly evaluate the type of antiplatelet agent, the thrombotic risk of the patient, and the hemorrhagic risk of the surgical procedure.