Safety of cold snare resection techniques for removal of polyps in the small colon in patients taking clopidogrel and aspirin: a Korean Association for the Study of Intestinal Diseases prospective multicenter study

Abstract

Background and aims: Polypectomy is a procedure associated with a high risk of bleeding. Guidelines recommend uninterrupted aspirin use during polypectomy, whereas cessation of clopidogrel 5 to 7 days before polypectomy is recommended. The cold snare resection (CSR) technique, with or without submucosal injection, is considered safer than conventional polypectomy using electrocoagulation for postpolypectomy bleeding. In this study, we compared the bleeding adverse events associated with CSR between clopidogrel and aspirin users.

Methods: This multicenter prospective cohort study was conducted in 5 academic hospitals in Korea and included clopidogrel and aspirin users who underwent polypectomy. Antiplatelet agents were used without interruption, with ≤3 days of interruption defined as continuous use. The primary endpoint was delayed bleeding, which was defined as bleeding occurring several hours after polypectomy, whereas immediate bleeding was defined as bleeding requiring hemostasis 2 minutes after polypectomy. Risk factors for immediate bleeding were investigated for each polyp.

Results: Finally, 263 patients (509 polyps) were included, including those receiving clopidogrel (n=129) and aspirin (n=134). The rates of delayed bleeding per patient in the clopidogrel and aspirin groups were .8% and .7%, respectively, meeting noninferiority (rate difference, .03%; 95% confidence interval, -2.07 to 2.13). A total of 100 cases of hemostasis (19.8%) were performed in 68 patients after polypectomy. Immediate bleeding risk factors were female sex, end-stage renal disease, submucosal injection before resection, and polyp size ≥5 mm.

Conclusions: This multicenter prospective study demonstrated the safety of CSR in patients treated with uninterrupted clopidogrel and aspirin. (Clinical trial registration number: NCT04328987.).