Bleeding Volume after Surgery for Trochanteric Fractures of the Femur in Patients Treated with Antiplatelet Agents: Comparison according to Surgical Timing

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: We evaluated the bleeding volume after surgery for trochanteric fractures of the femur in patients treated with antiplatelet agents according to surgical timing. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We selected 20 patients who had trochanteric fractures of the femur treated with antiplatelet agents from January 2009 to June 2010. Group I included 9 patients who discontinued antiplatelet medication and had delayed operations at an average of 6.5 days and Group II included 11 patients who underwent early operations within 24 hours. Group I included 2 males and 7 females; their average age was 77.8 years (range 59~86). Group II included 4 males and 7 females, with an average age of 73.5 years (range 61~84). We compared the two groups' volume of intraoperative bleeding, the preoperative and postoperative hemoglobin levels and the volume of postoperative transfusion. The Mann-Whitney U test was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The volume of intraoperative bleeding was 88 ml in group I and 106 ml in group II (p>0.01). The difference in the hemoglobin was a decrease of 2.4 mg% in group I and a decrease of 2.2 mg% in group II (p>0.01). The volume of postoperative transfusion was 0.6 pints in group I and 1 pint in group II (p>0.01). CONCLUSION: We found a similar bleeding volume regardless of operative timing after surgery for trochanteric fractures of the femur in patients treated with antiplatelet agents.