Postdischarge Oral Versus Injectable Anticoagulation Following Major Orthopedic Surgery

BackgroundMultiple clinical studies have shown postdischarge anticoagulation to bo beneficial following major orthopedic surgery (MOS); however, outpatient prophylaxis is not widely practiced.ObjectiveTo quantify, from a third-party payer perspective, real-world clinical and economic outcomes tor patients receiving injectable or oral anticoagulation as prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism (VTE) following discharge after MOS.MethodsA retrospective database analysis was conducted using outpatient medical and pharmacy data from the PharMetrics Patient-Centric Database (January 1, 2002, to March 31, 2006). Patients greater than 18 years of age with 9 months of continuous eligibility who received an anticoagulant in the outpatient setting following MOS were eligible. Patients were stratified into 2 cohorts; injectable (dalteparin, enoxaparin, fondaparinux) and oral (warfarin), and were matched 1:1 on demographic and clinical characteristics.Results:A total of 12,724 patients were included (injectable, 6362; ...