Extended Anticoagulation after Radical Cystectomy Using Direct Acting Oral Anticoagulants: A Single-Institutional...

Extended prophylactic anticoagulation therapy with enoxaparin 40 mg daily is effective in reducing the incidence of venous thromboembolism (VTE) after radical cystectomy. In an effort to improve compliance, we modified our extended anticoagulation options to direct oral anticoagulants (DOAs; eg apixaban 2.5 mg twice daily or rivaroxaban 10 mg daily). This study assesses our experience with extended VTE prophylaxis using DOAs.

This is a retrospective review that included all patients who underwent radical cystectomy at our institution between January 2007 and June 2021. Multivariable logistic regression models were constructed to test the hypothesis that use of extended DOAs is similar to enoxaparin in terms of VTE events and risk of gastrointestinal bleeding.

In 657 patients, the median age was 71 years. Of the 101 patients who received extended VTE prophylaxis, 46 (45.5%) patients received rivaroxaban/apixaban. At 90 days of followup, 40 patients (7.2%) who did not receive extended prophylaxis on discharge developed a VTE compared to 2 patients (3.6%) in the enoxaparin group and 0 patients in the DOA group (p=0.11). Seven patients (1.3%) who did not receive extended anticoagulation developed gastrointestinal bleeding compared to 0 patients in the enoxaparin group and 1 (2.2%) in the DOA group (p=0.60). On multivariable analysis, both enoxaparin and DOAs were associated with similar reductions in the risk of developing VTE compared to controls (enoxaparin: OR 0.33, p=0.09 and DOAs: OR 0.19, p=0.15).

These preliminary data suggest that oral apixaban and rivaroxaban are acceptable alternatives to enoxaparin with similar safety and efficacy profiles.