Clinical features, management and outcomes of gastrointestinal bleeding in patients treated with oral anticoagulants

Abstract Background Gastrointestinal (GI) bleeding with the different antithrombotics may present peculiarities in terms of location, precipitating factors, clinical management and prognosis. Purpose Our objective was to compare the profile and clinical course of GI bleeding with direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) versus vitamin K antagonists (VKA). Methods We carried out a retrospective study of all consecutive patients treated in a tertiary hospital during 2018 and 2019, and who met the following selection criteria: 1) diagnosis of confirmed or probable GI bleeding; 2) red blood cell transfusion; 3) treatment with an oral anticoagulant; 4) absence of concomitant antiplatelet therapy. We collected information on comorbidities, bleeding risk scores, baseline treatments, and clinical course of bleeding. We compared adjusted all-cause mortality at 12-months between DOACs and VKAs groups. Results We identified 115 patients with GI bleeding, mean age 83±9 years, 63% women, 50.4% on DOACs and 49.6% on VKAs. NOACs group showed more recent anticoagulation history, and more complex clinical profile, with older age (85 vs. 82 years, p=0.026), number of comorbidities (2.7 vs. 2.1, p=0.049), CHA2DS2VASc score (5.2 vs. 4.2, p=0.001) and ORBIT score (3.9 vs. 3.3, p=0.047). There were no differences in the location of bleeding (60.5% lower GI tract), number of units transfused (mean 2.6), or hemoglobin nadir (mean 7.6 g/dL). Notably, 42% of the patients on DOACs were receiving the high dose at the time of bleeding, 63% of them had some risk criterion for overdose (age>80 years, weight 1 of these criteria. 12-month cumulative mortality was high, but significantly lower in the DOACs group (15.5% vs. 35.7%, adjusted HR 0.31, p=0.002). Conclusions Patients who experience GI bleeding with anticoagulants represent a therapeutic challenge, with both high age and prevalence of comorbidities. One-year mortality is remarkably high, particularly in the VKA group. Our findings emphasize the need for close monitoring and optimization of preventive strategies in this complex clinical scenario. Funding Acknowledgement Type of funding sources: None.