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Making ICD Surgery Safer
– Reported, June 05, 2013
(Ivanhoe Newswire) A clinical trial coordinated by the University of Ottawa Heart Institute Cardiovascular Research Methods Centre has found that as compared to bridging therapy with heparin, continued warfarin treatment at the time of pacemaker or ICD surgery markedly reduced the incidence of clinically significant device-pocket hematoma, which was defined as device-pocket hematoma that prolonged hospitalization, interruption of anticoagulation therapy, or further surgery.
Seventeen centers in Canada and one center in Brazil enrolled a total of 984 patients for the study. Patients were eligible if they had an annual predicted risk of thromboembolism of five percent or more, required nonemergency device surgery, and were taking warfarin.
Researchers say that guidelines suggest that the continuation of warfarin at the time of minor dental, dermatologic, or ophthalmologic procedures is associated with an acceptable risk of bleeding.
SOURCE: New England Journal of Medicine, June 2013
