Therapy adherence, safety and efficacy of rivaroxaban in prevention of venous thromboembolism in patients with hip or knee endoprosthesis

Purpose: Rivaroxaban is a potent, selective direct inhibitor of factor Xa. The aim of this study was to evaluate the therapy adherence, safety and efficacy of rivaroxaban therapy in reducing the risk of venous thromboembolism in patients undergoing elective hip or knee replacement.

Methods: The prospective, post-marketing clinical trial was conducted on adult patients after knee or hip endoprosthesis. Data were collected at the baseline and three control visits (five days, a month and three months after the baseline). Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8) was used for evaluation of therapy adherence.

Results: The study included 60 patients who received rivaroxaban therapy in a dose of 10 mg once a day. A low adherence to the drug was observed in 15% patients. All patients had an average MMAS-8 score in the range of high adherence 0.65 ± 0.90. Symptomatic venous thromboembolism was observed in two patients with numerous risk factors. No major bleeding was recorded during entire follow-up period. During the five-day postoperative in-hospital follow-up, signs of wound complications were recorded in 8 (13.3%) patients, and 4 (6.7%) of them underwent surgical revision of the wound.

Conclusion: Generally, there was high adherence to rivaroxaban therapy, but low adherence was present in 15% of patients. Rivaroxaban showed good safety and efficacy. However, high proportion of wound complications and patients needing surgical revision of the wound should be further evaluated through larger studies.