Update of a study of not ceasing anticoagulants for patients undergoing injection procedures for spinal pain.

Abstract

Objectives To determine prevalence rates of hemorrhagic complications in patients who either ceased or continued anticoagulants during interventional pain procedures.

Methods A total of 1,936 consecutive patients were prospectively monitored during a total of 12,723 injection procedures. The prevalence of hemorrhagic complications was tallied for a variety of procedures performed on patients who ceased or continued various anticoagulants.

Results No hemorrhagic complications occurred in any patient who continued anticoagulants. Sufficiently large sample sizes were obtained to conclude that, in patients who continued warfarin or clopidrogel during lumbar transforaminal injections and for lumbar facet procedures, the zero prevalence of complications had 95% confidence intervals of 0% to 0.3%. This prevalence was significantly lower than the risk of medical complications in patients who ceased warfarin.

Conclusions Lumbar transforaminal injections and lumbar facet injections have a very low rate of hemorrhagic complications when patients continue to take anticoagulants.