Blood Thinner Risks Rethought

As people age, heart and blood-vessel problems become more common. To combat this issue many take a blood thinner to help prevent strokes and dangerous clots. At the same time, falls are a serious concern for seniors, often leading to head injuries and costly hospital visits.

Doctors have long believed that higher levels of a blood thinner make brain bleeding more likely after a fall. Because of this, older adults on such medication often receive extra tests and longer hospital stays when they suffer head injuries.

But a study by Florida Atlantic researchers, published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine, challenges the common belief that higher blood thinner levels always increase bleeding risk. Instead, the study results suggest that doctors may need to rethink how they monitor older adults on blood thinners after a fall.

Unexpectedly, the study findings revealed that the those with the highest risk of brain bleeding was made up of patients whose blood-thinning levels were actually too low, not too high. Even more surprising, patients with very high levels of blood thinner did not experience any brain bleeds at all.

“High blood-thinning levels may not raise the risk of brain bleeds like we thought,” said Richard Shih, MD, lead author and professor of emergency medicine, Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine. “This raises important questions about current emergency care protocols and how we monitor these patients. It’s critical to re-examine our approach to managing anticoagulation in older adults after head trauma to provide the safest, most effective care without unnecessary tests or hospital stays. It’s our hope that findings from our research will help improve patient outcomes while reducing health care costs.”

Read the press release.