• Tomasz Tykocki and Krystyna Guzek.
• Department of Neurosurgery, Institute of Psychiatry and Neurology, Warsaw, Poland. Electronic address: ttomasz@mp.pl.
• World Neurosurg. 2016 May 1; 89: 497-504.

BackgroundOptimal anticoagulation therapy (AT) in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a challenging task and proper management is strongly correlated with clinical outcomes. Only limited data are available on AT after TBI and practical decision making is based on the opinion of experts. This review sought to critically assess different therapeutic options using AT and antiplatelet agents in the perioperative period after TBI.MethodsA comprehensive review of the literature was performed to summarize relevant data on AT in patients with TBI.ResultsPatients with preinjury AT with TBI require emergent neurosurgical treatment and they are also at high risk of developing thromboembolic complications or hematoma expansion. New oral anticoagulants offer a lower incidence of intracranial hemorrhage compared with warfarin. The rate of intracranial hemorrhage during new oral anticoagulants or heparin therapy is significantly lower than that with vitamin K antagonists.Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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