Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2018 Sep;26(6):775-779.
doi: 10.1016/j.jsps.2018.04.007. Epub 2018 Apr 12.

Rivaroxaban prescribing in a Saudi tertiary care teaching hospital

Ahmed Yacoob Mayet  1   2 , Ahmed Ibrahim Alsaqer  3 , Abdullah Musa Alhammad  1 , Hussain Abdulrahman Al-Omar  1
Affiliations

Rivaroxaban prescribing in a Saudi tertiary care teaching hospital

Ahmed Yacoob Mayet et al. Saudi Pharm J. 2018 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose: This drug utilization review (DUR) aimed to describe the use of rivaroxaban in a tertiary care teaching hospital and to audit the hospital physicians' prescribing practice.

Methods: This study reviewed rivaroxaban prescriptions for patients admitted to a tertiary care teaching hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, between October 1, 2016 and January 15, 2017. It included all in-patients who received at least one dose of rivaroxaban, using data from the hospital's health information system (HIS). Appropriateness of prescribing was evaluated based on documented indication, dosing according to the patient's renal function for each approved indication, and restriction policy as per hospital department.

Results: During the study period, a total of 343 rivaroxaban prescriptions for 322 patients were identified. Overall, more than 56% of rivaroxaban prescriptions met at least one inappropriate criterion. Inappropriate dosing per patient's creatinine clearance (CrCl) was recognized in 42% of rivaroxaban prescriptions with the majority of these prescriptions issued for lower doses in 82.9% of prescriptions and non-approved indications identified in 14% of rivaroxaban prescriptions.

Conclusions: The introduction of oral rivaroxaban represents a paradigm shift in anticoagulation management. Future longer, larger multi-center research is needed to identify the most effective interventions to enhance rivaroxaban knowledge translation and reduce the likelihood of inappropriate rivaroxaban prescribing and associated economic and side effects sequelae.

Keywords: Audit; Drug utilization review; Hospital; Rivaroxaban; Saudi Arabia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Abrams P.J., Emerson C.R. Rivaroxaban: a novel, oral, direct factor Xa inhibitor. Pharmacotherapy. 2009;29(2):167–181. - PubMed
    1. Ageno W., Gallus A.S., Wittkowsky A., Crowther M., Hylek E.M., Palareti G. Oral anticoagulant therapy: antithrombotic therapy and prevention of thrombosis, 9th ed: American college of chest physicians evidence-based clinical practice guidelines. Chest. 2012;141(Suppl 2):e44S–88S. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bauersachs R., Berkowitz S.D., Brenner B., Buller H.R., Decousus H., Gallus A.S., Schellong S. Oral rivaroxaban for symptomatic venous thromboembolism. New. Engl. J. Med. 2010;363(26):2499–2510. - PubMed
    1. Büller H.R., Prins M.H., Lensin A.W., Decousus H., Jacobson B.F., Minar E., Segers A. Oral rivaroxaban for the treatment of symptomatic pulmonary embolism. New. Engl. J. Med. 2012;366(14):1287–1297. - PubMed
    1. Burness C.B., Perry C.M. Rivaroxaban: a review of its use in the treatment of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism and the prevention of recurrent venous thromboembolism. Drugs. 2014;74(2):243–262. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources