JBJS, April 6, 2022, Volume 104, Issue Suppl 2

Aspirin Is an Effective Prophylaxis for Venous Thromboembolism in Ambulatory Patients with Femoral Neck Fracture Undergoing Hip Arthroplasty

Emanuele Chisari, MD Timothy L. Tan, MD Roshan Shah, MD Matthew Levitsky, MD Nicolas Piuzzi, MD Carlos Higuera, MD Daniel Santana, BS Syona Satwah, BS Javad Parvizi, MD, FRCS

Hip

Background: Although aspirin has been adopted as an effective and safe prophylaxis against venous thromboembolism (VTE) by the arthroplasty community, the role of aspirin in the prevention of VTE in the setting of arthroplasty for trauma remains insufficiently known. Therefore, the present multicenter study investigated the efficacy of aspirin as VTE prophylaxis for patients with femoral neck fracture undergoing total hip arthroplasty or hemiarthroplasty.

Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 1,141 patients with femoral neck fracture who underwent total hip arthroplasty or hemiarthroplasty from 2008 to 2018 at 3 different institutions. Data on patient demographic characteristics, body mass index, history of VTE, and comorbidities were obtained from an electronic chart query and were confirmed by reviewing the medical records manually. Patients were allocated to cohorts based on the type of prophylaxis administered: aspirin (n = 454) and other anticoagulants (n = 687). Patients were then propensity score-matched on the basis of the risk score calculated using a previously validated tool and the remaining confounding variables. The primary outcome was the development of symptomatic VTE, namely deep vein thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE) confirmed by appropriate imaging, within 90 days after the surgical procedure. A bivariable analysis was performed.

Results: The overall VTE rate was 1.98% for patients who received aspirin compared with 6.7% for patients who received other anticoagulants (p < 0.001). After propensity score matching and regression modeling, aspirin was found to be noninferior to more potent anticoagulation in preventing VTE after both total hip arthroplasty and hemiarthroplasty.

Conclusions: Aspirin is an effective option for VTE prophylaxis in patients with femoral neck fracture who undergo hip arthroplasty. Based on the patient management benefits of aspirin for elective arthroplasty and the present study, we suggest its use in standard-risk ambulatory patients.

Level of Evidence: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

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