title: Antiplatelet therapy and coronary stents in perioperative medicine--the two sides of the coin.
abstract: New trends in interventional cardiology, e.g. the increasing practice of coronary intervention with stent implantation and the prolonged use of dual antiplatelet therapy--usually a combination of clopidogrel and aspirin--has also increased the number of patients presenting for non-cardiac surgery. The two most commonly used stent types, bare-metal stents (BMSs) and drug-eluting stents (DESs), mandate different lengths of dual antiplatelet drug therapy to avoid stent thrombosis. Perioperative caregivers face a knife-edge dilemma between perioperative stent thrombosis, due to preoperative discontinuation of antiplatelet drugs, or surgical bleeding, by continuation of therapy. Pre- and intraoperatively, the risk factors for thrombosis have to be balanced against the risk factors for surgical bleeding. As long as prospective trials are not available, the recommendations and guidelines of task forces and experts are based on retrospective studies and case reports. The perioperative management, decision trees and the importance of close interdisciplinary collaboration between cardiologists, surgeons and anaesthetists will be described.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Core Medicine, Medical University of Graz, Auenbruggerplatz 29, A-8036 Graz, Austria. helfried.metzler@meduni-graz.at
authors.forename: Helfried
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Metzler
authors.forename: Sibylle
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kozek-Langenecker
authors.forename: Kurt
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Huber
mesh_terms: D000768:Anesthesia, General; D015906:Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary / Q000379:methods*; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical / Q000517:prevention & control*; D003328:Coronary Thrombosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D003663:Decision Trees; D054855:Drug-Eluting Stents / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006801:Humans; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000209:etiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D019990:Perioperative Care; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors