Efficacy and Safety of Rivaroxaban versus Warfarin in Patients with Coronary Endarterectomy: A Cross Sectional Study

Background: Coronary endarterectomy is an adjunctive treatment to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with multiple coronary involvements. The aim of the present study was to compare the efficacy and safety of the rivaroxaban versus warfarin in patients undergoing CABG endarterectomy in a prospective observational study Methods: All the patients who had undergone CABG endarterectomy and had received rivaroxaban or warfarin during the period from January2019 until August 2021 were included in the study. Need for salvage CABG, major bleeding, and thromboembolic events were considered as primary outcomes. The secondary outcomes included all-cause mortality and minor bleeding. All patients were followed for at least six months after their hospital discharge. Results: Out of the 73 patients recruited during the 18 months, 45 received rivaroxaban and the remaining people received warfarin along with at least one antiplatelet. During the follow-up, no salvage CABG was performed. The minor bleeding was comparable between the two groups (31.96 versus 13.27; p=0.21). There was no significant difference between warfarin and rivaroxaban in terms of major bleeding and thromboembolic events (p=0.38 and >0.99, respectively). The all-cause mortality rate was similar between the two groups (p>0.99). Conclusion: In this preliminary real-word study, rivaroxaban was comparable to warfarin in terms of efficacy and safety in the patients undergoing CABG endarterectomy. Further larger studies are needed to clarify safety and efficacy of such approach.