Of the 146 patients on anticoagulants, 79 were discharged on warfarin, 43 on apixaban, 20 on rivaroxaban, and 4 on dabigatran. The other 139 patients were not anticoagulated for various reasons, one of which included normal sinus rhythm at discharge.
The researchers found that the DOACs were not significantly different from warfarin for efficacy endpoints in stroke (P = 0.23) or systemic embolism (P = 0.68). Safety endpoints also were similar among all groups for major bleeding (P = 0.57) or minor bleeding (P = 0.63). Median post-CABG length of stay was significantly longer in the warfarin group (8 days, P = 0.005), compared with dabigatran (7.5 days), rivaroxaban (6.5 days), and apixaban (6 days). In addition, the median total hospital length of stay was significantly longer with warfarin (11 days, P = 0.004), compared with rivaroxaban (8.5 days) and apixaban (9 days), but not compared with dabigatran (12 days).
Dr. Patel acknowledged that the study’s retrospective design and small sample size are limitations and said that larger prospective trials are warranted to confirm these results. She reported having no financial disclosures.
SOURCE: Patel AJ et al. THSNA 2018. Poster 64.
