Contributor: Aaron Lessen, MD

Educational Pearls:

Direct Oral Anticoagulants (DOACs) have surpassed Warfarin and Lovenox® for anticoagulation as they do not require injection and allow for easier discharge. In the ED, they are commonly prescribed after PE or DVT diagnosis.
Common DOACs are Apixaban (Eliquis®) and Rivaroxaban (Xarelto®). There has not been a direct head to head study comparing outcomes.
2 large observational studies evaluated the recurrence of clots and bleeding risk in patients with newly prescribed Eliquis® or Xarelto® for DVT or PE. Both studies found that Eliquis® had superior outcomes.
Further data is required to determine the preferred DOAC. A randomized trial comparing the two DOACs is upcoming with enrollment ending in 2023.

References

Dawwas GK, Leonard CE, Lewis JD, Cuker A. Risk for Recurrent Venous Thromboembolism and Bleeding With Apixaban Compared With Rivaroxaban: An Analysis of Real-World Data. Ann Intern Med. 2022;175(1):20-28. doi:10.7326/M21-0717

Aryal MR, Gosain R, Donato A, et al. Systematic review and meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of apixaban compared to rivaroxaban in acute VTE in the real world. Blood Adv. 2019;3(15):2381-2387. doi:10.1182/bloodadvances.2019000572

Image from:

Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Eliquis 10 Million Patients and Counting. Sec.gov. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/14272/000114036119003478/s002621x16_425.htm. Accessed June 12, 2022.

Summarized by Kirsten Hughes, MS4 | Edited by John Spartz MS4 & Erik Verzemnieks, MD

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