• Karan D'Souza, Mathew Norman, Alexander D Rebchuk, Nadeesha Samarasinghe, Celine D Hounjet, Donald Eg Griesdale, Emilie Joos, and Thalia S Field.
• From the Section of Acute Care Surgery and Trauma, Division of General Surgery (D'Souza, Samarasinghe, Joos), Department of Medicine, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
• J. Am. Coll. Surg. 2023 Oct 1; 237 (4): 663672663-672.

BackgroundThe risk-benefit balance of antithrombotic therapy administration for blunt cerebrovascular injuries (BCVI) patients with concomitant injuries at high risk for bleeding is an ongoing therapeutic conundrum for trauma clinicians. We performed a systematic review to assess the reported efficacy and safety of treatment in this population with respect to prevention of ischemic stroke and risk of hemorrhagic complications.Study DesignA systematic electronic literature search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and Web of Science databases was performed from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 2021. Studies were included if they reported treatment-stratified clinical outcomes after antithrombotic therapy in BCVI patients with concomitant injuries at high risk of bleeding into a critical site. Data were extracted from selected studies by two independent reviewers, including the main outcomes of interest were BCVI-related ischemic stroke rates and rates of hemorrhagic complications.ResultsOf the 5,999 studies reviewed, 10 reported on the effects of treating BCVI patients with concurrent traumatic injuries and were included for review. In the pooled data, among patients with BCVI and concomitant injury who received any form of antithrombotic therapy, the BCVI-related stroke rate was 7.6%. The subgroup of patients who did not receive therapy had an overall BCVI-related stroke rate of 34%. The total rate of hemorrhagic complications in the treated population was 3.4%.ConclusionsIn BCVI patients with concomitant injuries at high risk for bleeding, antithrombotic use reduces the risk of ischemic strokes with a low reported risk of serious hemorrhagic complications.Copyright © 2023 by the American College of Surgeons. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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