Safety of Direct Oral Anticoagulants Compared to Warfarin for Atrial Fibrillation after Cardiac Surgery: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Abstract

The evidence for use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) in the management of post-operative cardiac surgery atrial fibrillation (POAF) is limited and mostly founded on clinical trials that excluded this patient population. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials and observational studies to evaluate the hypothesis that DOACs are safe compared to warfarin for the anticoagulation of patients with POAF. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, clinicaltrials.gov, and the Cochrane Library for clinical trials and observational studies comparing DOAC with warfarin in patients ≥18 years old who had post-cardiac surgery atrial fibrillation. Primary outcomes included stroke, systemic embolization, bleeding, and mortality. We performed a random-effects meta-analysis of all outcomes. The meta-analysis for the primary outcomes showed significantly lower risk of stroke with DOAC use (6 studies, 7143 patients, RR 0.64; 95% CI 0.50 to 0.81, I2: 0.0%) compared to warfarin, a trend towards lower risk of systemic embolization (4 studies, 7289 patients, RR 0.64, 95% CI 0.41 to 1.01, I2: 31.99%) and similar risks of bleeding (14 studies, 10182 patients, RR 0.91; 95% CI 0.74 to 1.10, I2: 26.6%) and mortality (12 studies, 9843 patients, relative risk [RR] 1.01; 95% CI 0.74 to 1.37, I2: 26.5%). Current evidence suggests that DOACs, compared to warfarin, in the management of atrial fibrillation after cardiac surgery is associated with lower risk of stroke and a strong trend for lower risk of systemic embolization, and no evidence of increased risk for hospital readmission, bleeding and mortality.