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To Continue or Interrupt DOAC Therapy? The Evidence Remains Unclear – RPTH Journal
Jun 29, 2026, 22:14

To Continue or Interrupt DOAC Therapy? The Evidence Remains Unclear – RPTH Journal

RPTH Journal shared on LinkedIn about a recent article by Alexander Xiang et al, adding:

”For patients undergoing minimal bleeding-risk procedures, this systematic review and meta-analysis suggests the answer may not be so straightforward.

In a new RPTH Journal State of the Art review, across 24 studies involving 8,663 patients, continuous DOAC therapy was associated with fewer thrombotic and major bleeding events in the overall analysis.

However, when the authors focused on the highest-quality randomized trials, those apparent benefits disappeared, showing no significant differences in thrombotic events, major bleeding, minor bleeding, complications, or mortality between continuing and interrupting DOAC therapy.

The take-home message?

Current evidence suggests that either strategy appears acceptable for minimal bleeding-risk procedures, but better randomized studies are still needed to define the optimal approach.”

Title: Continuous vs interrupted direct oral anticoagulants for minimal bleeding-risk surgical procedures—a systematic review and meta-analysis

Authors: Alexander Xiang, Shakil Popatia, Sarah Lopes Sadafi, Megha Rao, Asim Shaikh, Mehrad Nowrouzi, Allen Li, Ali Eshaghpour, Mark Crowther

To Continue or Interrupt DOAC Therapy? The Evidence Remains Unclear - RPTH Journal

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