Secondary outcomes: risk of bloody punctures in relation to a pause of antithrombotic drugs
| Controls without antithrombotic drugs | Antithrombotic drugs paused* | P value | Antithrombotic drugs not paused | P value | |
| Peripheral blocks | |||||
| Group size/no of bloody taps (%) | 25,299/318 (1.3) | 7502/232 (3.1) | <0.001 | 1330/35 (2.6) | <0.001 |
| Crude OR (95% CI) | 1 | 2.51 (2.11 to 2.98)† | <0.001 | 2.12 (1.49 to 3.02)† | <0.001 |
| Adjusted‡ OR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.65 (1.35 to 2.01)† | <0.001 | 1.63 (1.13 to 2.35)† | <0.01 |
| Crude OR (95% CI) | 1 | 0.85 (0.59 to 1.21)§ | 0.366 | ||
| Adjusted‡ OR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.0 (0.67 to 1.48)§ | 0.997 | ||
| Neuraxial blocks | |||||
| Group size/no of bloody taps (%) | 19,506/591 (3.0) | 9872/269 (2.7) | 0.143 | 1244/53 (4.3) | 0.015 |
| Crude OR (95% CI) | 1 | 0.90 (0.78 to 1.04)† | 0.143 | 1.42 (1.07 to 1.90)† | 0.016 |
| Adjusted‡ OR (95% CI) | 1 | 0.86 (0.73 to 1.01)† | 0.059 | 1.19 (0.88 to 1.60)† | 0.252 |
| Crude OR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.59 (1.18 to 2.15)§ | <0.01 | ||
| Adjusted‡ OR (95% CI) | 1 | 1.42 (1.03 to 1.97)§ | 0.033 |
*Paused was defined as a guideline-driven pause in neuraxial blocks and a pause judged adequate by the treating anesthetist in peripheral blocks.
†Compares patients on antithrombotic medications (paused, respectively, not paused) with controls.
‡Adjusted for year of surgery, sex, age, body mass index, American Society of Anesthesiologists physical status, use of sedative drugs or general anesthesia during block performance, catheter use versus single shot approach, multiple skin punctures, and use of ultrasound.
§Direct comparison of patients in whom antithrombotic medications were paused as defined and of patients without adequate pause.