The impact of dual antiplatelet therapy administration on the risk of bleeding complications during coronary artery bypass surgery

Introduction: Dual antiplatelet therapy reduces the risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction and recurrence of adverse ischemic events in patients affected by acute coronary syndromes, but in patients urgently needing coronary artery surgery it can increase the risk of severe perioperative bleeding complications. Aim: We evaluated the impact of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) based on acetylsalicylic acid plus clopidogrel or ticagrelor in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). Material and methods: Three hundred and thirty-three patients underwent coronary artery bypass grafting with DAPT discontinuation > 72 hours or 3-4 days (group A, n = 159), 48-72 hours or 2-3 days (group B, n = 126), < 24 hours or 0-1 day (group C, n = 24) prior to CABG. Results: Operative mortality was 1.87% (group A), 0.79% (group B), absent (group C). The incidence of mediastinal re-exploration was 1.25% or 2 patients (group A), 1.59% or 2 patients (group B), 8.33% or 4 patients (group C) (p = 0.01). Group C showed postoperatively a greater incidence of a blood loss greater than 500 ml at 6 hours and a blood loss from chest tube drainages significantly higher at 6 and 24 hours (p < 0.01). Multivariate analysis showed that ongoing ticagrelor intake in group C (HR = 42.4; p = 0.02) and group C (HR = 6.9; p = 0.04) were the only independent predictors of surgical re-exploration. In group C, surgical re-exploration was 2.56% or 1/39 patients taking clopidogrel, 33.3% or 3/9 patients taking ticagrelor (p = 0.002). Conclusions: Dual antiplatelet therapy ongoing until 1 day or 24 hours before CABG showed a significantly increased risk of bleeding complications in comparison with its discontinuation at 2-3 and > 3-4 days before, respectively. Major blood loss and surgical re-exploration were not associated with increased risk of operative all-cause or bleeding-related mortality. As expected, taking ticagrelor compared with clopidogrel in the short interval confers a higher risk of bleeding complications.