September 22, 2016Expert Opinion on Pharmacotherapy
Non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants versus vitamin K antagonists in the treatment of venous thromboembolic disease
Why the study?
Do non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) improve efficacy and safety compared to vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in patients with acute venous thromboembolism (VTE)?
Structured PICO
Do non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) improve efficacy and safety compared to vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in patients with acute venous thromboembolism (VTE)?
P
Population
Patients with acute venous thromboembolism (VTE)
I
Intervention
Non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs: dabigatran, rivaroxaban, apixaban, edoxaban)
C
Comparator
Vitamin K antagonists (VKAs)
O
Outcome
Prevention of VTE recurrence, fatal pulmonary embolism (PE) and long-term complications
NOACs offer a similarly effective but safer alternative to VKAs for the treatment of acute VTE, though real-world data and further studies are needed to address remaining clinical uncertainties.
Limitations
- 'grey zones' still remain and more studies are needed to provide evidence and confirm the superiority (or at least non-inferiority) of NOACs over VKAs
- Real world data might give additional insights
Authors
Discussion
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Implication
NOACs expand VTE treatment options; leaves open optimal agent selection by patient factors.
Cite This Study
Voukalis et al. (2016) studied this question.