Antithrombotic Medications Are Associated with Excess Hematuria-Related Complications

Concern about bleeding with antiplatelet and anticoagulant medications has focused mostly on intracranial and gastrointestinal bleeding. In this population-based cohort study from Canada, researchers compared hematuria-related complication rates in about 800,000 older patients (age, ≥66) who received at least one prescription for antithrombotic drugs between 2002 and 2014 with those in about 1.7 million older adults who were unexposed to antithrombotic agents. Hematuria-related complications were defined as hospitalizations, emergency department visits, or urologic procedures. Patients with cancer (other than nonmelanoma skin cancer) or prior urologic procedures were excluded.

During median follow-up of 7.3 years, patients exposed to antithr…