Anticoagulant-related hospital admissions: serious adverse reactions identified through hospital databases

A growing number of patients today receive anticoagulants. These drugs can cause serious adverse reactions leading to patients' hospitalization. The present study aimed to assess the number of hospital admissions as a result of anticoagulant adverse reactions in Alsace, a French region of 1.8 million inhabitants, and to estimate the economic burden associated with their management.

A retrospective analysis was performed using data extracted from the regional and anonymous hospital Programme de Médicalisation des Systèmes d'Information (PMSI) database to assess the number of hospital admissions and the associated costs. Stays from public and private hospitals were extracted from the database using two International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision, codes referring to anticoagulant drugs: 'T45.5-Poisoning by anticoagulants' and 'Y44.2-Anticoagulants' adverse effect in therapeutic use'. Costs were calculated from official French tariffs.

Within a 2-year period from 1 Januray 2010 to 31 December 2011, 462 anticoagulant-related hospital admissions, predominantly in elderly patients, were identified in Alsace. These stays, as a result of anticoagulant adverse reactions, represented a cost of 2 050 127.86 euros (including hospitalization and expensive drugs).

Regional PMSI database constitutes an effective tool to explore anticoagulant-related hospital admissions. Based on our study, one can state that the cost of anticoagulation therapies lies not only in the price of the drugs but also in the cost of adverse reaction management. Policy makers should be aware of this reality and should focus on better medication supervision in order to improve patient safety and reduce expenses.