title: [Pleural procedures in patients treated by platelet aggregation inhibitors: An opinion survey].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  When pleural procedures (thoracocentesis, blind pleural biopsies and chest tube insertion) are required in patients taking long-term platelet aggregation inhibitors, the risk of bleeding must be balanced against the risk of arterial thrombosis. Currently, the bleeding risk of pleural procedures is poorly understood.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of the survey was to gather the opinion of respiratory physicians regarding the bleeding risk of pleural procedures in patients taking platelet aggregation inhibitors.
  
  
  METHODS
  We emailed a standardized questionnaire designed by the French National Authority for Health to 2697 French respiratory physicians.
  
  
  RESULTS
  One hundred and eighty-eight of the 2697 questionnaires were returned (response rate: 7 %). The respiratory physicians declared that they performed an average of 8 pleural procedures per month. One hundred and seventy-five responders (95 %) practised pleural procedures in patients receiving platelet aggregation inhibitors; 68 of them (39 %) reported experiencing haemorrhagic complications. The bleeding risk associated with thoracentesis and chest tube insertion was considered minor by 97.8 and 65 % of responders respectively, whereas it was considered major for blind pleural biopsies by 73.4 %. Respiratory physicians were more reticent about performing pleural procedures in patients treated with clopidogrel than in those taking aspirin.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study provides an overview of how respiratory physicians perceive the bleeding risk associated with pleural procedures in patients taking platelet aggregation inhibitors.
authors.affiliation: Service de pneumologie et de réanimation médicale, groupe hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière - Charles-Foix, Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 75013 Paris, France. Electronic address: laurence.dangers@psl.aphp.fr.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dangers
authors.affiliation: Service de pneumologie et de réanimation médicale, groupe hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière - Charles-Foix, Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 75013 Paris, France.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Similowski
authors.affiliation: Service de pneumologie et de réanimation médicale, groupe hospitalier Pitié-Salpêtrière - Charles-Foix, Assistance publique-Hôpitaux de Paris, 75013 Paris, France.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chenivesse
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D010994:Pleura / Q000601:surgery*; D019106:Postoperative Hemorrhage / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D019616:Thoracic Surgical Procedures
chemical_list: D010975:Platelet Aggregation Inhibitors
keywords: Antiagrégants plaquettaires; Biopsie pleurale à l’aveugle; Blind pleural biopsy; Chest tube insertion; Drainage thoracique; Gestes pleuraux; Platelet aggregation inhibitors; Pleural procedure; Ponction pleurale; Thoracentesis