Comparing direct oral anticoagulants and vitamin K antagonist use in morbidly obese patients with venous thromboembolism: A single center retrospective cohort study

Introduction: Limited data exists on the safety and efficacy of direct‐acting oral anticoagulants (DOAC) use in morbidly obese patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE). Given the benefits of DOAC use over vitamin K antagonists (VKAs), in terms of monitoring requirements, and dietary and drug interactions, it is important to evaluate whether this is consistent in the higher risk for VTE recurrence morbidly obese group body mass index (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m(2)). Materials and methods: This retrospective, single‐center cohort study included patients with a BMI of at least 40 kg/m(2) who were admitted to Emory University Hospital from 1(st) January 2012 to 31(st) May 2020 with acute VTE, and subsequently initiated on anticoagulation treatment with either DOAC or VKA (warfarin). Univariate and bivariate analyses were used to evaluate differences in demographics by treatment type and BMI. Multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression was used to assess the risk of VTE recurrence by type of treatment among morbidly obese patient subgroup. Results: There were 247 (11.8%) morbidly obese (≥ 40 kg/m(2)) patients who were more likely than non‐obese patients to be younger, female, and of non‐white race. Thirty percent of the study population (n=74) had a BMI >50 kg/m(2). T ime‐to‐event analysis confirmed that the hazard of experiencing a recurrent thrombosis was not statistically significantly different among morbidly obese patients treated with a DOAC compared with VKA (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.28, confidence interval [CI] 0.07‐1.11, p = 0.07). Conclusions: This study aligns with previous literature and confirms that morbidly obese patients receiving DOAC or VKA have similar risks of recurrent VTE.