Direct Oral Anticoagulant and Head Trauma: Much Ado About Nothing

In this paper by Puzio and colleagues,1 the authors have performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of published data to compare the relative risk of delayed intracranial hemorrhage after blunt head trauma in patients on direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) compared with warfarin. We know that patients with head trauma who are on anticoagulants are more likely to have cerebral hemorrhage and worse outcomes. With an aging population and rapidly increasing use of DOACs, every trauma center is seeing an increasing number of elderly patients on these agents, who present after blunt head injury, most frequently due to low intensity ground level falls.
Source: Journal of the American College of Surgeons - Category: Surgery Authors: Tags: Invited Commentary Source Type: research