Objective: Edoxaban is given as pharmacologic prophylaxis alone or in combination with mechanical prophylaxis for venous thromboembolism after total knee arthroplasty. Several choices are made regarding edoxaban dosages when used in combination with mechanical prophylaxis. This study aimed to compare efficacy and safety in patients who received edoxaban with elastic stockings after total knee arthroplasty between those who received the standard dose, including those who received a reduced dose after meeting dose reduction criteria, and those who received reduced doses without dose reduction criteria.
Materials and methods: This study included 143 patients in the standard-dose group (with 125 patients receiving dose-adjusted edoxaban 15 mg/day) and 110 patients in the low-dose group, and it compared the incidence of venous thromboembolism and bleeding events between groups. The impact of edoxaban administration on the occurrence of venous thromboembolism after total knee arthroplasty was also examined using multivariate regression analysis.
Results: Our results showed that rates of venous thromboembolism and bleeding events in patients wearing elastic stockings after total knee arthroplasty were similar in both standard- and low-dose groups. Multivariate regression analysis showed that use of reduced-dose edoxaban without dose adjustment did not correlate with the occurrence of venous thromboembolism, but edoxaban administration was significantly associated with older age and longer surgery time (odds ratio 1.84, 95% confidence interval 1.04 - 3.25, p = 0.036; odds ratio 1.69; 95% confidence interval 1.09 - 2.62, p = 0.019).
Conclusion: These results suggest that reduced dose selection of edoxaban for patients who receive mechanical prophylaxis after total knee arthroplasty and post-administration pharmacological management may be useful.