Thromb Haemost 2015; 114(02): 237-244
DOI: 10.1160/TH15-01-0073
Review Article
Schattauer GmbH

Post-operative arterial thrombosis with non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants after total hip or knee arthroplasty

Alessandro Squizzato
1   Research Center on Thromboembolic Disorders and Antithrombotic Therapies, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Insubria, Varese, Italy
,
Federico Lussana
2   Hematology and Bone Marrow Transplant Unit, Azienda Ospedaliera Papa Giovanni XIII, Bergamo, Italy
3   Medicina III, Azienda Ospedaliera San Paolo, Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
,
Marco Cattaneo
3   Medicina III, Azienda Ospedaliera San Paolo, Dipartimento di Scienze della Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Milan, Italy
› Institutsangaben
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Publikationsverlauf

Received: 26. Januar 2015

Accepted after major revision: 04. März 2015

Publikationsdatum:
01. Dezember 2017 (online)

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Summary

The incidence of post-operative arterial thrombosis (AT) (acute myocardial infarction [AMI] and ischaemic stroke) is increased in patients undergoing total hip replacement (THR) or total knee replacement (TKR). We compared the incidence of post-operative AT in non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs)-treated and enoxaparintreated patients, performing a systematic review of phase III randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis in THR and TKR. Studies were identified by electronic search of MEDLINE and EMBASE database until July 2014. Differences between NOACs and enoxaparin groups in the efficacy and safety outcomes were expressed as odds ratios (ORs) with pertinent 95 % confidence intervals (95 % CI). Statistical heterogeneity was assessed with the I2 statistic. Eleven phase III RCTs for a total of 31,319 patients were included. Patients underwent TKR in six studies and THR in five studies. The NOACs under study were dabigatran (four studies), apixaban (three studies) and rivaroxaban (four studies). AT occurred in 0.23 % of patients on NOACs and in 0.27 % of patients on enoxaparin: the OR at fixed-effect model was 0.86 (95 % CI 0.53–1.40; I2 11 %). No differences in AT incidence among the three NOACs were observed. The incidence of major and clinically relevant bleeding was similar in NOACs and enoxaparin groups (OR 1.03, 95 % CI 0.92–1.15; I2 38 %). In conclusion, in RCTs of pharmacological VTE prophylaxis in patients undergoing THR or TKR, there was no difference in the incidence of post-operative AT among patients treated with NOACs, compared to those treated with enoxaparin.

Note: An abstract of this paper has been accepted as oral presentation at the XXIII Congress of SISET, Italian Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis, 6–9 November 2014, Milan (Italy).