Managing periprocedural anticoagulation therapy in patients undergoing device implantation: survey in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Abstract

Objective The management of patients who undergo cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) surgery and receive concomitant oral anticoagulation therapy (OAT) is an important clinical topic, as physicians must balance the thromboembolic and bleeding risk when deciding on the perioperative anticoagulation medication. The object of the survey was to analyse the management of perioperative OAT with vitamin K antagonists or novel oral anticoagulant agents (NOACs) and time, type and dose of possibly heparin bridging in consideration of OAT indication during CIED implantation in Austria, Germany and Switzerland.Methods and results We performed a web-based survey across CIED implanting centres in Germany, Austria and Switzerland to collect data regarding the management of the perioperative anticoagulation therapy. In total, the survey was completed by 252 centres. In total, 65.2% of the Austrian, 46.0% of the German and 13.3% of the Swiss centres stop vitamin K antagonists before CIED implantation and bridge w...