[Oral anticoagulation in the elderly - practical aspects and risk-benefit trade-off in atrial fibrillation]

Use of oral anticoagulants is common in elderly persons. Oral anticoagulation can be used safely in the elderly if careful titration of the loading dose, careful changes in maintenance doses as well as consideration of drug interactions are taken into account. Frequent monitoring of the INR is essential, especially with changes in medical status and in co-medication. Correction of elevated INRs can be done following the recommendations. If vitamin K is used in stable patients, only small doses are required. In patients with atrial fibrillation, ischemic stroke risk and bleeding risk are predicted by overlapping factors. So patients who profit most from stroke risk reduction also show high bleeding risk. Risk stratification for ischemic stroke can be done easily with CHADS2-Score. Fall risk tends to be overestimated as a contraindication, whereas cognitive decline in combination with an unstable social network argues against anticoagulation. In the end, the decision to start or withhold anticoagulation has to be taken individually.