BACKGROUND

In laparoscopic surgery for colorectal cancer (CRC) for patients who receive antiplatelet therapy (APT), it remains unclear whether APT should be continued or temporarily withdrawn. We investigated the safety of perioperative aspirin continuation, specifically focused on bleeding complications.

METHODS

We performed retrospective analysis utilizing propensity score-matching (PSM). In total, 789 patients satisfied the inclusion criteria, and were divided into two groups. Patients in the continued aspirin monotherapy (cAPT) group continued treatment perioperatively with not more than 2 days of withdrawal (n = 140). Patients with more than 3 days withdrawal of aspirin or who did not receive APT at all were assigned to the non-cAPT group (n = 649). After 1:1 PSM, 105 patients were extracted from each group. Perioperative APT management was determined based on our institutional committee-approved guidelines for antithrombotic management.

RESULTS

In PSM cohorts, all patient demographics were comparable between the groups. Regarding intraoperative outcomes, we found no significant difference in operation duration (p = 0.969), blood loss (p = 0.068), and blood transfusion (p = 0.517). Postoperative overall morbidity was 20.0% and 13.3% in the cAPT and non-cAPT groups, respectively (p = 0.195). The incidence of bleeding complications was also comparable between the groups (2.9% vs. 1.0%, p = 0.317). Assessing the 14 cases with bleeding complications overall in the full cohort, all 7 cases in the non-cAPT group had anastomotic bleeding, which was generally observed shortly after surgery [median postoperative day (POD) 1]. All 7 cases in the cAPT group received additional antithrombotics other than aspirin; bleeding occurred at various sites relatively later (median POD 7), mostly after reinstitution of additional antithrombotic agents.

CONCLUSIONS

For patients receiving APT, perioperative continuation of aspirin monotherapy could be safe in laparoscopic CRC surgery; however, careful consideration is required at reinstitution of additional antithrombotics where multiple antithrombotic agents are used.