ABSTRACT
Objective:To investigate the anticoagulant causes, hemorrhagic susceptibility factors and clinical characteristics of patients with warfarin-related major bleeding in the emergency department of a general hospital.Methods:In a registry study from January 2017 to February 2020, 114 cases of warfarin-related major bleeding patients admitted to Department of Emergency Medicine, the First Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University were enrolled. The descriptive methods were used to analyze anticoagulant causes, hemorrhagic susceptibility factors and clinical characteristics. Patients were divided into the international normalized ratio (INR) overrange group and the INR non-overrange group according to INR value during bleeding. The Chi-square test, Student’s t test, and Wilcoxon rank sum test were used to compare the differences between the INR overrange group and the INR non-overrange group. The Wilcoxon rank sum test and Student’s t test were used to analyze the characteristics of gastrointestinal tract bleeding and cerebral hemorrhage. Results:Warfarin-related major bleeding accounted for 0.36% (114/32 040) of first aid cases and 9.84% (114/1 158) of warfarin-taking cases, respectively. Seventy-seven cases (67.5%) of anticoagulant causes were related to atrial fibrillation (AF) and 32 cases (28.1%) were related to post-operative cardiac valve replacement. Of the bleeding susceptibility factors, HAS-BLED scored at 4.0 (3.0, 5.0), 84 cases (73.7%) had a history of drug use, 77 cases (67.5%) aged older than 65 years old, 65 cases (57.0%) had irregular INR monitoring, and 29 cases (25.4%) had recent increase in dose. Forty cases (35.1%) were gastrointestinal tract bleeding with the lowest hemoglobin (Hb) value and the highest score of HAS-BLED. Twenty-one cases (18.4%) were cerebral hemorrhage with the shortest prothrombin time (PT), the lowest INR value, the highest Hb, and the lowest score of HAS-BLED. Twelve cases (10.5%) died or gave up treatment in critical condition, including 6 cases of cerebral hemorrhage, 5 cases of gastrointestinal tract bleeding, and 1 case of hemoptysis. There were statistically significant differences in previous history of antiplatelet therapy, recent increase in dose, HAS-BLED score and bleeding site between the INR overrange group and the INR non-overrange group (all P<0.05). Conclusions:Among patients with warfarin-related major bleeding, AF and post-operative cardiac valve replacement are the main causes of warfarin anticoagulation. INR overrange is related to the previous history of antiplatelet therapy, recent increase in dose, and the high score of HAS-BLED. The gastrointestinal tract bleeding is the most common, with the lowest Hb value and the highest score of HAS-BLED. Cerebral hemorrhage is the second common, with the shortest PT, the lowest INR value, and the highest Hb. The incidence and mortality rates of warfarin-related major bleeding are relatively high.