Is Rivaroxaban Safe for Patients with Venous Thromboembolism?

Rivaroxaban is a safe and effective alternative to warfarin in patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism (VTE), according to the results of a recent study.

The researchers conducted a propensity-matched cohort study of 29,963 individuals with incident VTE who were new users of rivaroxaban or warfarin from nationwide Danish health registries. Individuals who had redeemed prescriptions for both rivaroxaban and warfarin, as well as those taking other oral anticoagulants, were not included in the study.
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Overall, 1734 propensity-matched patients given rivaroxaban and 2945 propensity-matched patients given warfarin were included.

Rate of recurrent VTE at 6 months was 9.9 per 100 person-years with rivaroxaban and 13.1 per 100 person-years with warfarin.  The rate of major bleeding was 2.4 per 100 person-years in patients taking rivaroxaban and 2.0 per 100 person-years in those taking warfarin.

“In this clinical practice setting, rivaroxaban in patients with unprovoked VTE was associated with reduced risk of recurrent VTE compared with standard treatment, without compromising safety,” the researchers concluded.

—Michael Potts

Reference:

Larsen TB, Skjoth F, Kjaeldgaard JN, et al. Effectiveness and safety of rivaroxaban and warfarin in patients with unprovoked venous thromboembolism: a propensity-matched nationwide cohort study [published online April 11, 2017]. Lancet Haematology. DOI: dx.doi.org/10.1016/S2352-3026(17)30054-6.