Incidence of Aspirin Effect in an Anticipated Aspirin Negative Elderly Population

The use of antiplatelet/anticoagulant drugs is very common in elderly patients, particularly aspirin.  In head trauma aspirin use increases risk of traumatic brain injury (TBI).  Accurate medication history is important for rapid implementation of anticoagulant/antiplatelet reversal protocols in these situations.  This retrospective study was designed to determine what proportion of elderly TBI patients without antiplatelet medications in their history show signs of antiplatelet use on laboratory testing.  This was determined based on rotational thromboelastometry (ROTEM) results for elderly TBI patients who presented at Grand Strand between September 1, 2017 – May 30, 2019.  After exclusions were applied, out of a total of 168 patients 4 showed signs of antiplatelet effect on ROTEM, 2 of which had no listed antiplatelet/anticoagulant medications.  There were no results of statistical significance.