Hip fractures are a common cause of morbidity and mortality in the elderly, with approximately 30,000 hip fractures a year in Canada. Many hip fracture patients are prone to heart failure and present anticoagulated with Warfarin for medical comorbidities including atrial fibrillation or previous thromboembolic disease. Reversal of warfarin anticoagulation to an INR < 1.5 preferred for surgery but this often contributes to a delay to hip fracture surgery, which increases patient pain, morbidity, mortality, and length of stay Octaplex is a small-volume prothrombin complex concentrate (PCC) that reverses Warfarin-related anticoagulation in 15–60 minutes. It has been shown to be safe and effective in the management of intracranial and gastrointestinal bleeding in warfarinised patients. It is recommended by Bone and Joint Canada as an option for urgent warfarin reversal in hip fracture patients. However, there has been no published literature on the use of Octaplex or other PCCs in orthopaedic patients. Our objective is to assess the effectiveness of Octaplex for rapid reversal of warfarin anticoagulation in hip fracture patients.

A database review of all patients who received Octaplex was performed. Medical records of all hip fracture patients in Calgary who received Octaplex between December 2009 and February 2015 were reviewed. After application of inclusion and exclusion criteria, 33 patients were identified. A timeline of International Normalised Ratio (INR), Octaplex administration, and hip fracture surgery was recorded. Mortality and complications were assessed at 30 days.

A single dose of Octaplex corrected the INR to < 1.5 in 29 cases (88%). Median time from administration of Octaplex to a measured INR < 1.5 was 1.1 hours. Median time from admission to hip fracture surgery was 22 hours. Mortality at 30 days was 15.2%, mostly from cardiac arrest. A further 12% of patients developed cardiac or thrombotic complications. Multiple medical comorbidities were common including coronary artery disease (55%), congestive heart failure (45%), and chronic pulmonary disease (39%). Patients who received both fresh frozen plasma (FFP) and Octaplex for warfarin reversal had much higher mortality than those who only received Octaplex (40% vs 4.3% mortality at 30 days), but also had more medical comorbidities.

Octaplex is effective at rapidly reversing warfarin anticoagulation and reducing time to surgery, potentially reducing the morbidity and mortality of hip fractures. Administration of both Octaplex and FFP were associated with higher early mortality in this case series. Further research is required to assess the safety of Octaplex, vitamin K, and FFP for reversal of warfarin anticoagulation in this population.