Introduction: Deep vein thrombosis is one of the important vascular disorders in which patients require anticoagulant drugs for a long time. Warfarin and rivaroxaban are among the common drugs for the disease, and despite their widespread use, there are disagreements about their effectiveness and side effects. Therefore, the study was conducted to compare the efficacy and side effects of rivaroxaban and warfarin in patients with deep vein thrombosis.
Methods: This prospective cohort study was conducted on 200 patients with deep vein thrombosis referred to Al-Zahra Hospital (S) in 2017-2018. Among the patients, 100 were treated with warfarin and 100 were treated with rivaroxaban. Patients were followed up for one year and the effectiveness of treatment, the incidence of side effects and drug interactions in the two groups were examined and compared.
Results: There were no significant differences between the two study groups in terms of age and gender distribution, cause of DVT, recurrence rate of DVT and drug-related complications (P<0.05). The incidence of hematuria in the warfarin group was significantly higher at 10% than in the rivaroxaban group (3%) (P=0.04). The incidence of peripheral edema in the rivaroxaban group (6%) was significantly higher than in the warfarin group (P=0.01).
Conclusion: Rivaroxaban and warfarin did not differ significantly in terms of the recurrence rate of deep vein thrombosis and the overall incidence of side effects. However, warfarin use was associated with a higher risk of hematuria and rivaroxaban use with a higher risk of peripheral edema.