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Oral Drug Apixaban Prevents Blood Clots Without Needles

3 days ago

A study of over 3,000 patients found the oral drug Apixaban prevents deep-vein thrombosis after joint surgery and halves bleeding risk.

A pill may soon replace the needle for patients at risk of dangerous blood clots after joint surgery, according to a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. An international research team reported that an oral anti-clotting drug called Apixaban prevents clots as well as existing injectable treatments while cutting the risk of bleeding.

The finding was drawn from a double-blind trial of more than 3,000 patients. Researchers said the tablet matched the effectiveness of standard therapy at stopping clots and lowered bleeding complications by half. It was also far simpler for patients to take.

The condition being targeted, deep-vein thrombosis, forms in the large veins of the lower leg and thigh. It claims hundreds of lives around the world each year and is a particular danger following joint replacement operations. If a clot breaks loose and travels through the bloodstream, it can settle in the lungs and cause pulmonary embolism, an event that is frequently deadly.

Until now, the usual defence has been anti-clotting medicine delivered by syringe after surgery. Those injections are painful and carry their own risk of bleeding. The oral alternative removes the needle from the equation without adding to that risk.

"This is a major step in our fight to prevent DVT and the many unnecessary deaths each year caused by blood clots after joint replacement surgery," said team leader Gary Raskob of the University of Oklahoma.

Raskob added that patients now had access to a safer option. "We now have a better treatment that reduces the risk of bleeding, and a patient no longer has to endure injections by needle," he said. The research was reported from Washington.

Apixaban, deep-vein thrombosis, blood clots, pulmonary embolism, joint replacement surgery, oral anti-clotting drug, New England Journal of Medicine, Gary Raskob

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