Non-cardiac surgery after coronary stenting: Current view of the issue
Cardiac complications are the major cause of perioperative mortality in non-cardiac interventions. As invasive cardiology progressively develops, more patients undergo non-cardiac operations after transcatheter coronary interventions. After coronary stenting, double antiplatelet therapy (DAT) is required on a long-term basis. If during this therapy non-cardiac surgery is needed a difficult clinical dilemma emerges: DAT continuation would increase the risk of perioperative bleeding whereas DAT discontinuation would increase the risk of stent thrombosis. This review is focused on recent literature on this issue with a critical analysis and comparison to current recommendations of experts.