Current antiplatelet and anticoagulation therapy in the field of cardiac surgery

The use of appropriate antiplatelet and anticoagulant therapy has got an outstanding role both in the planning of cardiac surgery and also during the perioperative period. The aim of our paper is to summarize and present the current international recommendations and the results of significant studies, focusing on the current practice in Hungary. The following informations are based on the evidence-based guidelines and recommendations of the European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery and the European Society of Cardiology, supplemented by guidelines from the American College of Cardiology, the American Heart Association and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons, finally we added some topics from the main results of major studies of the last years. In this paper, we discuss the role of mono-and dual anti-platelet and oral anticoagulant therapy, including the mechanism of novel antiplatelet and oral anticoagulant drugs, the importance of bridging therapy in anticoagulation, postoperative thrombosis prophylaxis and the medication practice in the case of bleeding risk. It should be noted that though the present information has been recently updated, the suggestions below only illustrate the current state of evidence.