Managing direct oral anticoagulants in accordance with the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme guidance for patients undergoing dentoalveolar surgery.

Introduction The Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) guidance on the management of dental patients taking anticoagulant or antiplatelet drugs provides recommendations on the management of patients taking direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs). This guidance was developed by a multidisciplinary Guidance Development Group, based on available resources at the time of publication. We aim to describe our experience of managing a cohort of adult patients prescribed DOACs, undergoing dentoalveolar procedures in accordance with the SDCEP guidance, between April 2017 and March 2020.Methods As part of our routine practice, patients received a telephone consultation one week following treatment, to assess any post-operative bleeding. Review of the clinical notes was used to assess clinician adherence to the guidance recommendations.Results In total, 98 patients underwent 119 dentoalveolar procedures. Persistent bleeding followed 17 (14.3%) procedures, of which 11 (9.2%) procedures required specific intervention. Absolute compliance with the recommendations was 43.7%, supporting the recommendation for audit and staff education.Discussion A diagnosis of heart failure and advanced age were identified as contributory factors to post-operative bleeding.Conclusions The SDCEP guidance is safe to follow, with no patients experiencing major haemorrhage. Consulting a medical specialist for patients with heart failure of likely significance, based on the medical or drug history, in addition to those who report an advanced heart failure diagnosis and the frail/older person, could reduce the incidence of post-operative bleeding.

Fixed dose rivaroxaban can be used in extremes of bodyweight: A population pharmacokinetic analysis.

BACKGROUND: Emerging safety and efficacy data for rivaroxaban suggest traditional therapy and rivaroxaban are comparable in the morbidly obese. However, real-world data that indicate pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters are comparable at the extremes of body size are lacking. The International Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis Scientific and Standardisation Committee (ISTH SSC) suggests avoiding the use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in patients weighing >120 kg or with a body mass index >40 kg/m2 and gives no recommendation on the use of DOACs in those <50 kg. OBJECTIVES: To generate a population PK model to understand the influence of bodyweight on rivaroxaban exposure from clinical practice data. METHOD: Rivaroxaban plasma concentrations and patient characteristics were collated between 2013 and 2018 at King's College Hospital anticoagulation clinic. A population PK model was developed using a nonlinear mixed effects approach and then used to simulate rivaroxaban concentrations at the extremes of bodyweight. RESULTS: A robust population PK model derived from 913 patients weighing between 39 kg and 172 kg was developed. The model included data from n = 86 >120 kg, n = 74 BMI >40 kg/m2 , and n = 30 <50 kg. A one-compartment model with between-subject variability on clearance and a proportional error model best described the data. Creatinine clearance calculated by Cockcroft-Gault, with lean bodyweight as the weight descriptor in this equation, was the most significant covariate influencing rivaroxaban exposure. CONCLUSIONS: Our work demonstrates rivaroxaban can be used at extremes of bodyweight provided renal function is satisfactory. We recommend that the ISTH SSC revises the current guidance with respect to rivaroxaban at extremes of body size.