AAN Guidelines on Periprocedural Management of Antithrombotic Drugs

Neurologists frequently are asked to make recommendations about whether to continue or stop antithrombotic drugs in patients with cerebrovascular disease who are about to undergo invasive procedures. Given the variety of antithrombotic drugs and widely varying levels of patient and procedural risk, such decisions can be difficult. Recently issued evidence-based guidelines from the American Academy of Neurology promise to make these decisions easier, or at least less arbitrary.

After surveying the literature through August 2011, the guideline authors found few high-quality studies to inform decisions about periprocedural antithrombotic drug management in patients with cerebrovascular disease. Their recommendations, based on the available evid…