Does Transient Cessation of Antiplatelet Medication Prior to Shock Wave Lithotripsy Have Any Safety Concern: Evaluation of the Short Term Safety Results.

Objective: The study aimed to evaluate the true safety of transient cessation of the antiplatelet medication before extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (SWL) on bleeding-related complications.

Patients And Methods: Forty cases undergoing SWL for renal pelvic stones were included and depending on the use of antiplatelet medication they were divided into 2 groups namely: group 1, cases under antiplatelet medication in whom the medication was stopped before ESWL; and group 2, cases without any antiplatelet medication. Comparative evaluation of patient, stone and treatment-related parameters were done in both groups.

Results: Although microscopic hematuria was present in all cases, the incidence of macroscopic hematuria was higher in cases undergoing antiplatelet medication when compared with the other cases. Regarding the microscopic hematuria again, the mean number erythrocytes per field of analysis was significantly higher in group 1 cases. The mean value of the hematoma size was similar in both groups.

Conclusion: Our findings indicate that SWL can be applied safely in patients under antiplatelet therapy following the cessation of medication for a certain period of time. However, among the cases treated with this concept in our study, we clearly observed that the incidence of procedure-related hematoma formation and macroscopic hematuria were more common in such cases than in the normal ones.