Summary
Anticoagulation with vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) has been shown to be effective in
the prevention and treatment of thrombotic complications in various clinical settings,
including atrial fibrillation (AF), venous thromboembolism (VTE), acute coronary syndromes
and after invasive cardiac procedures. Bleeding is the most important complication
of VKAs and a major concern for both physicians and patients. The occurrence of bleeding
during treatment is not only important for the treated subjects, but also for a correct
and complete use of this therapy in all the subjects who have a clear clinical indication
for anticoagulation. This review analyses the treatment- and person- associated risk
factors for bleeding during VKAs and their combination in clinical prediction rules
that have been proposed in the attempt to identify those patients at higher risk for
bleeding. The clinical prediction rules may help physicians stratify patients into
categories of risk and thus to evaluate their individual risk/benefit ratio of starting
or prolonging an anticoagulant treatment.
Keywords
Anticoagulation - bleeding - vitamin K antagonists - clinical prediction rules