Safety and efficacy of prophylactic anticoagulation versus therapeutic anticoagulation in hospital‐admitted COVID‐19 patients: A systematic review and meta‐analysis of randomized controlled trials

BACKGROUND: COVID‐19 disease‐related coagulopathy and thromboembolic complication, an important aspect of the disease pathophysiology, are frequent and associated with poor outcomes, particularly significant in hospitalized patients. Undoubtedly, anticoagulation forms a cornerstone for the management of hospitalized COVID‐19 patients, but the appropriate dosing has been inconclusive and a subject of research. We aim to review existing literature and compare safety and efficacy outcomes of prophylactic and therapeutic dose anticoagulation in such patients. METHODS: We did a systematic review and meta‐analysis to compare the efficacy and safety of prophylactic dose anticoagulation when compared with therapeutic dosing in hospitalized COVID‐19 patients. We searched PubMed, Google Scholar, EMBASE and COCHRANE databases from 2019 to 2021, without any restriction by language. We screened records, extracted data and assessed the risk of bias in the studies. RCTs that directly compare therapeutic and prophylactic anticoagulants dosing and are not placebo‐controlled trials were included. Analyses of data were conducted using the Mantel–Haenszel random‐effects model (DerSimonian–Laird analysis). The study is registered with PROSPERO (CRD42021265948). RESULTS: We included three studies in the final quantitative analysis. The incidence of thromboembolic events in therapeutic anticoagulation was lower in comparison with prophylactic anticoagulation in hospitalized COVID‐19 patients and reached statistical significance [RR 1·45, 95% CI (1.07, 1.97) I (2) –0%], whereas major bleeding as an adverse event was found lower in prophylactic anticoagulation in comparison with therapeutic anticoagulation that was statistically significant [RR 0·42, 95% CI(0.19, 0.93) I (2) –0%]. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that therapeutic dose anticoagulation is more effective in preventing thromboembolic events than prophylactic dose but significantly increases the risk of major bleeding as an adverse event. So, the risk–benefit ratio must be considered while using either of them.