This is an interesting observational study of the bleeding risk and the utility of preoperatively testing platelet aggregation inhibition in patients with hip fractures taking antiplatelet medications. The study shows that a large proportion of patients undergoing this type of surgery are treated with antiplatelet agents (21% aspirin and 5% clopidogrel). The authors show that testing for platelet aggregation inhibition does not seem to correlate with bleeding risk and is not beneficial in the preoperative assessment. These prospective data also support early surgery for patients with hip fractures concurrently on aspirin, with no increase in bleeding complications. For patients taking clopidogrel, the authors\’ conclusions are significantly limited by the small number of patients and the variability of surgical delay in this group.
– Elvira Bisbe