Rivaroxaban for the prevention of venous thromboembolism after radiofrequency ablation of saphenous veins concomitant with miniphlebectomy, sclerotherapy, or no treatment of varicose tributaries

OBJECTIVE: To assess the efficacy and safety of once-daily 10 mg rivaroxaban for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis after ClosureFast radiofrequency ablation (RFA) of saphenous veins. METHOD: The medical records of patients, who had a Caprini score of ≥3, underwent RFA, received prophylactic rivaroxaban for five days, and completed follow up at one month were reviewed for efficacy (a combination of endovenous heat-induced thrombosis [EHIT] grade of 2-4, any symptomatic or asymptomatic deep vein thrombosis [DVT], and symptomatic pulmonary embolism [PE]) and safety (a combination of major and clinically relevant non-major [CRNM] bleeding) outcomes. RESULTS: The results of RFA for 248 great saphenous and 24 small saphenous veins with the concomitant miniphlebectomy (63.8%) and sclerotherapy (16.5%) were analyzed. The primary efficacy outcome occurred in 5 of 218 (2.3%; 95%CI, 1.0-5.3%) patients: three EHITs and two symptomatic DVTs. The CRNM bleeding was reported in two patients (0.9%; 95% CI, 0.2-3.3%). No difference was observed in comparison with 79 similar patients who received 40 mg of subcutaneous enoxaparin during the same time period. CONCLUSION: Once-daily 10 mg rivaroxaban is suitable for VTE prophylaxis after RFA of saphenous veins.