Management of Bleeding Events Associated with Antiplatelet Therapy: Evidence, Uncertainties and Pitfalls

Abstract

Bleeding complications are common in patients treated with antiplatelet agents (APA), but their management relies on poor evidence. Therefore, practical guidelines and guidance documents are mainly based on expert opinion. The French Working Group on Perioperative Haemostasis provided proposals in 2018 to enhance clinical decisions regarding the management of APA-treated patients with a bleeding event. In light of these proposals, this review discusses the evidence and uncertainties of the management of patients with a bleeding event while on antiplatelet therapy. Platelet transfusion is the main option as an attempt to neutralise the effect of APA on primary haemostasis. Nevertheless, efficacy of platelet transfusion to mitigate clinical consequences of bleeding in patients treated with APA depends on the type of antiplatelet therapy, the time from the last intake, the mechanism (spontaneous versus traumatic) and site of bleeding and the criteria of efficacy (in vitro, in vivo). Specific antidotes for APA neutralisation are needed, especially for ticagrelor, but are not available yet. Despite the amount of information that platelet function tests are expected to give, little data support the clinical benefit of using such tests for the management of bleeding events in patients treated or potentially treated with APA.