Rivaroxaban versus warfarin for the prevention of post-thrombotic syndrome.

INTRODUCTION: Despite treatment of acute deep vein thrombosis (DVT) with low molecular weight heparin and warfarin, up to 50% of patients develop post-thrombotic syndrome (PTS). Our aims were to assess whether treatment of DVT with rivaroxaban would reduce the rate of subsequent PTS and improve health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as compared to conventional anticoagulation with low molecular weight heparin (LMWH)/warfarin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Consecutive patients with an objectively confirmed DVT diagnosed between 2011 and 2014 and treated with either rivaroxaban or warfarin were included in this study 24 (±6) months after DVT. PTS was assessed using the Patient Reported Villalta scale. HRQoL was assessed using the EQ-5D-3L and VEINES-QOL/Sym questionnaires. RESULTS: Total 309 patients were included, 161 (52%) treated with rivaroxaban and 148 (48%) with warfarin. Rivaroxaban-treated patients had a lower rate of PTS (45%: 95% confidence interval [CI] 37 to 52) compared to those treated with warfarin (59%: 95% CI 51 to 66, absolute risk difference 14%: 95% CI 3 to 25, odds ratio (OR) 0.6, P = .01). The adjusted OR for development of PTS was 0.5 (95% CI: 0.3 to 0.8, P = .01) in patients treated with rivaroxaban. HRQoL was significantly better in the rivaroxaban-treated patients. HRQoL measured by EQ-VAS (P = .002) and VEINES-QOL/Sym (P = .005/P = .003) remained significantly better after adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Patients treated with rivaroxaban had lower rate of PTS and better HRQoL after DVT compared to patients treated with warfarin. However, these results should be interpreted with caution due to the limitation imposed by study design.

Chronic fatigue is associated with impaired health-related quality of life in inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND: Fatigue is reported to reduce health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in chronic diseases. Studies on the importance of fatigue and its implications for the patient's HRQOL in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) remain scarce and need to be explored. AIM: To investigate the influence of chronic fatigue on both generic and disease-specific HRQOL in IBD. METHODS: Patients in remission, with mild and moderate IBD completed the Fatigue Questionnaire, the Short-Form 36 (SF-36) and the Norwegian version of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Questionnaire (N-IBDQ). In addition, demographic and clinical variables were obtained. RESULTS: In total, 140 patients were included; the mean age of patients with chronic fatigue was 44.2 years (s.d. = 15.8), that of nonfatigued was 44.7 years (s.d. = 16.0). Ulcerative colitis (UC)/Crohn's disease (CD) = 92/48. Chronic fatigue was associated, after controlling for covariates, with a reduction of HRQOL scores in 6/8 SF-36 dimensions in UC and 5/8 dimensions in CD. In N-IBDQ, chronic fatigue was associated with a reduction of HRQOL in four subdimensions and total score in CD and all dimensions in UC. CONCLUSIONS: Fatigue is associated with reduction of HRQOL scores in IBD. The physical HRQOL domains are particularly affected. The impact of fatigue on disability, sick leave, school and work attendance has to be studied further.