Use of hemodialysis for the treatment of intracerebral hemorrhage in patients on dabigatran with normal renal function

Dabigatran is a direct thrombin inhibitor which is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for prevention of embolic stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation. Dabigatran has been shown to be non- inferior to warfarin in preventing stroke in patients with atrial fibrillation [1, 6]. The rate of major bleeding in patients taking dabigatran is also similar to that seen in patients on warfarin [1]. Unlike warfarin, there is currently no antidote available for reversal of anticoagulant effects of dabigatran [2, 3]. Dabigatran is excreted renally and accumulates in patients with acute kidney injury (AKI). Hemodialysis has been reported to increase clearance of dabigatran in patients with acute kidney injury and life-threatening bleeding [4, 5]. We present two cases of dabigatran-associated intracranial hemorrhage where hemodialysis was used to accelerate clearance of dabigatran from the blood in patients with normal renal function.