Dabigatran versus warfarin major bleeding in practice: an observational comparison of patient characteristics, management and outcomes in atrial fibrillation patients

Data comparing the patient characteristics, management and outcomes for dabigatran versus warfarin major bleeding in the practice setting are limited. We performed a retrospective single health system study of atrial fibrillation patients with dabigatran or warfarin major bleeding from October 2010 through September 2012. Patient identification occurred through both an internal adverse event reporting system and a structured stepwise data filtering approach using the International Classification of Diseases diagnosis codes. Thirty-five dabigatran major bleeding patients were identified and compared to 70 warfarin major bleeding patients. Intracranial bleed occurred in 4.3 % of warfarin patients and 8.6 % of dabigatran patients. Dabigatran patients tended to be older (79.9 vs. 76 years) and were more likely to have a creatinine clearance of 15–30 mL/min (40 vs. 18.6 %, p = 0.02). Over one-third of dabigatran patients had an excessive dose based on renal function. More dabigatran patients required a procedure for bleed management (37.1 vs. 17.1 %, p = 0.03) and received a hemostatic agent for reversal (11.4 vs. 1.4 %, p = 0.04). Dabigatran patients were twice as likely to spend time in an ICU (45.7 vs. 27.1 %, p = 0.06), be placed in hospice/comfort care (14.3 vs. 7.1 %, p = 0.24), expire during hospitalization (14.3 vs. 7.1 %, p = 0.24), and expire within 30-days (22.9 vs. 11.4 %, p = 0.28). In a single hospital center practice setting, as compared to warfarin, patients with dabigatran major bleeding were more likely to be older, have renal impairment, require a procedure for bleed management and receive a hemostatic agent. Patients with dabigatran major bleeding had an excessive dose for renal function in more than one-third of cases.