The influence of pre-injury anticoagulant or antiplatelet agents on outcomes in trauma patients sustaining abdominal solid organ injuries: A scoping review

Background: Indications for, and usage of, anticoagulant (AC) and antiplatelet (AP) agents is increasing. In this context, it is important to understand the evidence base of the effect of pre-injury AC/AP agents on patient outcomes in the context of traumatic solid organ injury (SOI) to inform management protocols. Methods: A scoping review of the literature was undertaken with a systematic search strategy within the PubMed and Scopus databases. Study characteristics, clinical outcomes and outcome measures including mortality, hospital length of stay, admission to intensive care units, length of stay in intensive care and management details were extracted from included studies. Results: The search identified six eligible studies reporting results from a total of 26,960 patients. Patients on AC/ AP are more likely to fail non-operative management (NOM) than their non-AC/AP counterparts; at the same time, they are less likely to be operated on as a first line of management. Clinical outcome measures (mortality, length of stay, admission to intensive care units, and length of intensive care unit stay) were heterogeneous across studies, but it is likely that AC/AP patients have poorer outcomes in SOI. Results on transfusion requirements were inconclusive. Conclusion: Few studies have examined the effect of pre-injury anticoagulation on outcomes in trauma patients sustaining solid organ injuries. Future studies should more closely examine solid organ trauma within the elderly group, as well as the effect of newer AC/AP agents in current use.