Are blood thinners post-op killers?

Current US guidelines for the prescription of potent anticoagulants by surgeons who perform joint replacement operations could be doing patients more harm than good, according to Dr. Nigel Sharrock and his team from the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. They argue for a revision of the American College of Chest Physicians' guidelines, in light of their review showing that the use of powerful anticoagulants to prevent pulmonary embolism may actually lead to more deaths among patients who take these drugs. The paper (1) was published in the March issue of Springer's journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.

Anticoagulants are routinely prescribed before...

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