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Bleeding Risk, Management and Outcome in Patients Receiving Non-VKA Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs)

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An Erratum to this article was published on 17 November 2015

Abstract

Modern direct-acting anticoagulants are rapidly replacing vitamin K antagonists (VKA) in the management of millions of patients worldwide who require anticoagulation. These drugs include agents that inhibit activated factor X (FXa) (such as apixaban and rivaroxaban) or thrombin (such as dabigatran), and are collectively known today as non-VKA oral anticoagulants (NOACs). Since bleeding is the most common and most dangerous side effect of long-term anticoagulation, and because NOACs have very different mechanisms of action and pharmacokinetics compared with VKA, physicians are naturally concerned about the lack of experience regarding frequency, management and outcome of NOAC-associated bleeding in daily care. This review appraises trial and registry (or “real-world”) data pertaining to bleeding complications in patients taking NOACs and VKA and provides practical recommendations for the management of acute bleeding situations.

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Conflict of interest statement

SW received speaker honoraria from Bayer Healthcare. TB received honoraria from Bayer and Boehringer Ingelheim. FNA received honoraria from Bayer, BMS and Leo Pharma. JBW received honoraria for lectures and advisory boards as well as research support from Bayer Healthcare, Boehringer Ingelheim, Daiichi-Sankyo and Pfizer. All authors declare that the content of the presented review is not influenced by the above-stated relations with the pharmaceutical industry.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Angiology, Center for Vascular Medicine and Department of Medicine III, University Hospital “Carl Gustav Carus”, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, 01307, Dresden, Germany

    Sebastian Werth & Jan Beyer-Westendorf

  2. Department of Emergency Medicine, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Eccles Street, Dublin 7, Ireland

    Tomás Breslin

  3. Haematology Department, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Eccles Street, Dublin 7, Ireland

    Fionnuala NiAinle

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  1. Sebastian Werth
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  2. Tomás Breslin
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  3. Fionnuala NiAinle
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  4. Jan Beyer-Westendorf
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Correspondence to Jan Beyer-Westendorf.

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Werth, S., Breslin, T., NiAinle, F. et al. Bleeding Risk, Management and Outcome in Patients Receiving Non-VKA Oral Anticoagulants (NOACs). Am J Cardiovasc Drugs 15, 235–242 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40256-015-0123-6

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