Length of hospital stay in treatment of venous thromboembolism: Do outcomes vary preference of anticoagulant? A retrospective analysis

Introduction: Regarding the choice of novel or traditional oral anticoagulants for the treatment of different entities of venous thromboembolism (VTE), there is contrasting, little or no evidence to put forward. We here assess the impact of various anticoagulants in reducing the length of stay (LOS) in patients with acute VTE. Objectives was: 1. To compare LOS among novel and traditional anticoagulants groups on discharge. 2. To determine the clinical risk factors responsible for lengthier hospital stay in patients having acute VTE. Material and methods: We conducted a retrospective data analysis of 161 consecutively admitted patients in the Life line Hospital, Karachi, Pakistan with a recent diagnosis of VTE. Lengths of stay with various anticoagulants on discharge were compared. Bleeding complications and readmission outcomes were compared, along with determination of independent predictors by multivariate analysis for LOS among groups. Results: Patients discharged on a vitamin K antagonist (warfarin) had significantly longer hospital stay compared to patients on rivaroxaban (7.65 days vs. 5.21 days, p < 0.001). Patients discharged exclusively on enoxaparin (hospital stay duration of 3.30 days) or on a combination of enoxaparin and warfarin (hospital stay duration of 4.26 days,) when compared for LOS to rivaroxaban, showed statistical significance ( p < 0.0001). Conclusions: Warfarin has significant longer LOS compared to rivaroxaban. Bleeding outcomes and readmissions compared among anticoagulant discharged groups were found to be statistically insignificant. Novel anticoagulants have an observable impact on the length of hospital stay in patients with acute venous thromboembolism.