Risk of postoperative bleeding and thromboembolic events in anticoagulated patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumors

Background: Transurethral resection of the bladder (TURB) harbors a high-risk for postoperative bleeding, especially in patients requiring anticoagulation. Recently, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have become a popular alternative to vitamin K antagonists (VKAs), though their impact on TURB comp...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Thomas Paul Scherer, Cici Dam, Uwe Bieri, Daniel Eberli, Raeto Strebel
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SAGE Publishing 2025-02-01
Series:Therapeutic Advances in Urology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1177/17562872251315930
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1832540982931881984
author Thomas Paul Scherer
Cici Dam
Uwe Bieri
Daniel Eberli
Raeto Strebel
author_facet Thomas Paul Scherer
Cici Dam
Uwe Bieri
Daniel Eberli
Raeto Strebel
author_sort Thomas Paul Scherer
collection DOAJ
description Background: Transurethral resection of the bladder (TURB) harbors a high-risk for postoperative bleeding, especially in patients requiring anticoagulation. Recently, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have become a popular alternative to vitamin K antagonists (VKAs), though their impact on TURB complications remains unclear. Objectives: To assess the postoperative complications of TURB from patients taking DOACs and VKAs. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Materials and methods: We retrospectively identified anticoagulated patients undergoing a TURB at our institution between 2012 and 2022 and divided them into two groups: whether they received VKA or DOAC. Follow-up of each patient was performed for 3 months. Occurrence and time to event of postoperative bleeding and thromboembolic events were recorded. A multivariable regression analysis was performed to assess risk differences. Results: A total of 167 patients (11.7%) fulfilled the inclusion criteria, of which 102 patients (61.1%) received a DOAC and 65 patients (38.9%) a VKA. Postoperative bleeding led to re-catheterization in 13 (12.8%) DOAC and 6 (9.2%) VKA patients ( p  = 0.49) and re-intervention in 7 (6.9%) DOAC and 4 (6.2%) VKA patients ( p  = 0.86). Blood transfusions were administered to 3 DOAC patients (2.9%), none in the VKA group. No thromboembolic events were reported. Conclusion: TURB carries low morbidity in anticoagulated patients. Thromboembolic events and the need for blood transfusion are infrequent. No substantial difference between the postoperative bleeding risk of patients receiving DOAC or VKA was found. All bleeding complications occurred within 2 weeks, marking it a potentially safe point in time to restart the OAC thereafter.
format Article
id doaj-art-ff975d23534a40fcb36c64c02daeb7c0
institution Kabale University
issn 1756-2880
language English
publishDate 2025-02-01
publisher SAGE Publishing
record_format Article
series Therapeutic Advances in Urology
spelling doaj-art-ff975d23534a40fcb36c64c02daeb7c02025-02-04T11:03:25ZengSAGE PublishingTherapeutic Advances in Urology1756-28802025-02-011710.1177/17562872251315930Risk of postoperative bleeding and thromboembolic events in anticoagulated patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumorsThomas Paul SchererCici DamUwe BieriDaniel EberliRaeto StrebelBackground: Transurethral resection of the bladder (TURB) harbors a high-risk for postoperative bleeding, especially in patients requiring anticoagulation. Recently, direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have become a popular alternative to vitamin K antagonists (VKAs), though their impact on TURB complications remains unclear. Objectives: To assess the postoperative complications of TURB from patients taking DOACs and VKAs. Design: Retrospective cohort study. Materials and methods: We retrospectively identified anticoagulated patients undergoing a TURB at our institution between 2012 and 2022 and divided them into two groups: whether they received VKA or DOAC. Follow-up of each patient was performed for 3 months. Occurrence and time to event of postoperative bleeding and thromboembolic events were recorded. A multivariable regression analysis was performed to assess risk differences. Results: A total of 167 patients (11.7%) fulfilled the inclusion criteria, of which 102 patients (61.1%) received a DOAC and 65 patients (38.9%) a VKA. Postoperative bleeding led to re-catheterization in 13 (12.8%) DOAC and 6 (9.2%) VKA patients ( p  = 0.49) and re-intervention in 7 (6.9%) DOAC and 4 (6.2%) VKA patients ( p  = 0.86). Blood transfusions were administered to 3 DOAC patients (2.9%), none in the VKA group. No thromboembolic events were reported. Conclusion: TURB carries low morbidity in anticoagulated patients. Thromboembolic events and the need for blood transfusion are infrequent. No substantial difference between the postoperative bleeding risk of patients receiving DOAC or VKA was found. All bleeding complications occurred within 2 weeks, marking it a potentially safe point in time to restart the OAC thereafter.https://doi.org/10.1177/17562872251315930
spellingShingle Thomas Paul Scherer
Cici Dam
Uwe Bieri
Daniel Eberli
Raeto Strebel
Risk of postoperative bleeding and thromboembolic events in anticoagulated patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumors
Therapeutic Advances in Urology
title Risk of postoperative bleeding and thromboembolic events in anticoagulated patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumors
title_full Risk of postoperative bleeding and thromboembolic events in anticoagulated patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumors
title_fullStr Risk of postoperative bleeding and thromboembolic events in anticoagulated patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumors
title_full_unstemmed Risk of postoperative bleeding and thromboembolic events in anticoagulated patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumors
title_short Risk of postoperative bleeding and thromboembolic events in anticoagulated patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumors
title_sort risk of postoperative bleeding and thromboembolic events in anticoagulated patients undergoing transurethral resection of bladder tumors
url https://doi.org/10.1177/17562872251315930
work_keys_str_mv AT thomaspaulscherer riskofpostoperativebleedingandthromboemboliceventsinanticoagulatedpatientsundergoingtransurethralresectionofbladdertumors
AT cicidam riskofpostoperativebleedingandthromboemboliceventsinanticoagulatedpatientsundergoingtransurethralresectionofbladdertumors
AT uwebieri riskofpostoperativebleedingandthromboemboliceventsinanticoagulatedpatientsundergoingtransurethralresectionofbladdertumors
AT danieleberli riskofpostoperativebleedingandthromboemboliceventsinanticoagulatedpatientsundergoingtransurethralresectionofbladdertumors
AT raetostrebel riskofpostoperativebleedingandthromboemboliceventsinanticoagulatedpatientsundergoingtransurethralresectionofbladdertumors