| Antithrombotic or Anticoagulant Drugs as Risk Factors for
Chronic Subdural Hematoma in Elderly Patients |
|
Jae Il Lee , Geun Sung Song , Dong Wuk Son |
|
Department of Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, Pusan National University, Busan, Korea |
|
|
| Abstract |
Objective
The increased use of oral anticoagulant (OA) and antiplatelet (AP) drug comes at risk of severe complication.
There is evidence that these therapeutic strategies result in a higher incidence of choronic subdural hematoma
associated with the increasing age of population. The use of anticoagulation drug or anti-thrombotic therapy as
a causative agent in the development of choronic subdural hematoma (CSDH) in elderly patients was investigated.
Methods
We studied 190 patients older than 60 years with chronic subdural hematoma treated by burr hole
trehpination between January 1998 to December 2007. We examined these medical records to obtain specific details,
such as the past history, the physical examination, Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS), investigation performed, treatment
modality, number of recurrence and Glasgow Outcome Score (GOS).
Results
Regarding the use of OA and AP drug, aspirin and its derivatives were used by 23 (12.1%) patients,
warfarin by 15 (7.9%) and the remaining 152 (80%) were not using OA or AP drug. A interesting finding was that the
recurrence rate in chronic subdural hematoma appeared to be slightly higher in those patients who were on aspirin,
but this finding did not show statistical significance.
Conclusion
We found that anticoagulant or anti-thrombotic therapy was used by a significant percentage of CSDH
patients and the recurrence rate in chronic subdural hematoma appeared to be slightly higher in those patients
who were on aspirin, but this finding did not show statistical significance. The results of this study may be useful
in the clinical management of this subgroup of CSDH patients. |
| Key Words:
Elderly⋅Chronic subdural hematoma (CSDH)⋅Antithrombotic⋅Anticoagulation |
|
PDF Links
Download Citation
