Safety and efficacy of direct oral anticoagulants over warfarin in Japanese patients with acute venous thromboembolism: A meta-analysis

Background Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) have been developed as alternatives to conventional therapy with warfarin for the treatment of acute venous thromboembolism (VTE) events. The safety and efficacy of DOACs in Japanese patients with acute VTE has been investigated in small trials or subgroups from global randomized controlled trials (RCTs). Methods and Results We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of RCTs, to compare the safety and efficacy of DOACs to those of conventional therapy in Japanese patients with acute VTE. Published research was systematically searched for RCTs that compared DOAC to conventional therapy in Japanese patients with acute VTE. Random-effects models were used to pool safety and efficacy data across RCTs. Three studies, including 386 patients, were identified. Patients randomized to DOAC had a decreased risk for all bleeding [risk ratio (RR) 0.69, 95% confidential interval (CI) 0.50–0.95], without any significant differences in recurrent VTE (RR 0.84, 95% CI 0.29–2.43) and recurrent VTE/all-cause death (RR 0.60, 95% CI 0.23–1.56). Conclusion DOACs offer clinical benefit over conventional therapy in Japanese patients with acute VTE, showing a significant difference in their bleeding profile.