Fatal pulmonary embolism following elective total knee replacement using aspirin in multi-modal prophylaxis - A 12year study.

BACKGROUND: The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has issued guidelines on which thromboprophylaxis regimens are suitable following lower limb arthroplasty. Aspirin is not a recommended agent despite being accepted in orthopaedic guidelines elsewhere. We assessed the incidence of fatal pulmonary embolism (PE) and all-cause mortality following elective primary total knee replacement (TKR) with a standardised multi-modal prophylaxis regime in a large teaching district general hospital. METHODS: We utilised a prospective audit database to identify those that had died within 42 and 90days postoperatively. Data from April 2000 to 2012 were analysed for 42 and 90day mortality rates. There were a total of 8277 elective primary TKR performed over the 12year period. The multi-modal prophylaxis regimen used unless contraindicated for all patients included 75mg aspirin once daily for four weeks. Case note review ascertained the causes of death. Where a patient had been referred to the coroner, they were contacted for post mortem results. RESULTS: The mortality rates at 42 and 90days were 0.36 and 0.46%. There was one fatal PE within 42days of surgery (0.01%) who was taking enoxaparin because of aspirin intolerance. Two fatal PE's occurred at 48 and 57days post-operatively (0.02%). The leading cause of death was myocardial infarction (0.13%). CONCLUSIONS: Fatal PE following elective TKR with a multi-modal prophylaxis regime is a very rare cause of mortality.

Fatal pulmonary embolism following elective total hip arthroplasty: a 12-year study.

AIMS: The place of thromboprophylaxis in arthroplasty surgery remains controversial, with a challenging requirement to balance prevention of potentially fatal venous thrombo-embolism with minimising wound-related complications leading to deep infection. We compared the incidence of fatal pulmonary embolism in patients undergoing elective primary total hip arthroplasty (THA) between those receiving aspirin, warfarin and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) for the chemical component of a multi-modal thromboprophylaxis regime. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A prospective audit database was used to identify patients who had died within 42 and 90 days of surgery respectively between April 2000 and December 2012. A case note review was performed to ascertain the causes of death. RESULTS: During this period 7983 THAs were performed. The rate of mortality was 0.43% and 0.58% at 42 and 90 days respectively. The groups comprised 1571 patients (19.7%) on warfarin, 1838 (23.0%) on LMWH and 4574 (57.3%) on aspirin. The 90-day mortality for these three groups was 0.38%, 1.09% and 0.43% respectively. The higher mortality rate for LMWH was significant (p < 0.05). There were six fatal pulmonary emboli (PEs) (0.08%). A total of three occurred within 42 days, all in the LMWH group. A total of three occurred between 42 and 90 days; one on warfarin, two on LMWH. The leading causes of death in all three groups were lower respiratory tract infections and myocardial infarction. CONCLUSION: We confirmed that fatal PE following elective THA with a multi-modal prophylaxis regime is rare. We further found that LMWH conferred no benefit over aspirin in this context, and is associated with a higher all-cause rate of mortality. TAKE HOME MESSAGE: This study proposes that aspirin may be an appropriate thromboprophylaxis agent when used as part of a multi-modal regimen, suggesting current guidelines should be reviewed. Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2016;98-B:585-8.