Extended venous thromboprophylaxis in patients hospitalized for acute ischemic stroke: A systematic review and...

Patients hospitalized for acute ischemic stroke have an increased risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) that may persist beyond the currently recommended period of 6 to 14 days of thromboprophylaxis. This systematic review evaluated the efficacy and safety of extended venous thromboprophylaxis in patients hospitalized for acute ischemic stroke.

MEDLINE, EMBASE and Clinicaltrials.gov were searched up to December 2020 for randomized controlled trials comparing extended versus standard venous thromboprophylaxis in patients hospitalized for acute ischemic stroke. The efficacy outcome was a composite of asymptomatic or symptomatic deep vein thrombosis, symptomatic pulmonary embolism, and VTE-related death. The safety outcome was major bleeding. Summary risk ratios (RRs) with corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using random-effects models.

Four randomized controlled trials enrolling 33718 patients were included. Of 4330 (12.8%) patients hospitalized for acute ischemic stroke, 2152 (49.7%) received extended thromboprophylaxis for four to five weeks with betrixaban (n = 405, 18.8%), enoxaparin (n = 198, 9.2%), or rivaroxaban (n = 1549, 72.0%), and 2178 (50.3%) received standard venous thromboprophylaxis with enoxaparin. VTE risk was lower in acute ischemic stroke patients receiving extended thromboprophylaxis (RR 0.67; 95% CI, 0.43 to 1.04; 13 fewer per 1000), whereas the increase in major bleeding seemed trivial when compared with standard prophylaxis (RR 1.10; 95% CI, 0.31 to 3.95; 1 more per 1000).

In patients hospitalized for acute ischemic stroke, the net clinical benefit may favor extended venous thromboprophylaxis for four to five weeks over standard thromboprophylaxis.