Study of rivaroxaban for venous thromboembolism prophylaxis after lower extremity fractures in Russian clinical practice

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban in patients after surgical treatment for the lower extremity fractures. Patients and methods. Retrospective multicenter study included 663 patients with femur fractures, 43 patients with complications after total hip arthroplasty (periprosthetic femur fractures, recurrent dislocation) and 10 patients with shinbone fractures. The majority (81.99%) of patients were elderly or senile. In postoperative period all patients received a standard prophylactic dose of anticoagulants. Out of them 75 (main group) - rivaroxaban (10 mg/day), 241 (control group) - other drugs (enoxaparin - 40 mg/day and dabigatran etexilate 150 or 220 mg/day). The efficacy of prophylaxis was assessed by clinical picture and Doppler ultrasound scans. Results. Average bed day made up 9.28. During hospitalization no cases of PE were recorded. In the main and control groups the rate of deep vein thrombosis with clinical manifestations made up 1.89 and 3.31%, respectively. No cases of fatal bleeding occurred. Signs of continuous bleeding in the area of surgical intervention (soaking dressings or recurring wound hematomas) in the main group was recorded rarely (3.15%) than in the control one (8.29%). Conclusion. Reduction of VTE rate with no increase in bleeding risk indicates the feasibility of rivaroxaban use for postoperative PE prophylaxis in patients with lower extremity fractures.