Appropriateness of Prescribing Rivaroxaban at King Khalid University Hospital Riyadh

Background and aim Warfarin is recognized as a first-line treatment for different coagulopathy conditions; however, guidelines also encourage the use of rivaroxaban as an alternative option. The recent approval of the novel oral anticoagulants (NOACs) has led to swift changes in anticoagulant prescribing practices. This study aimed to review rivaroxaban prescribing patterns in adult patients in a large tertiary care setting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Materials and methods A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2019 to September 2020 at King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, KSA. Data was collected from the patient's medical record. Data analysis was performed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) IBM Corp. Released 2013. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22.0. Armonk, NY: IBM Corp. Results A total of 309 patients were included in this study. Rivaroxaban use for non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) was relatively higher than deep venous thrombosis/pulmonary embolism (DVT/PE). 45% of the patients had NVAF, followed by DVT/PE (26%), and DVT/PE prophylaxis (25%). Fifty-six patients, (18%) received an inappropriate dose of rivaroxaban for NVAF. Conclusion This study found a relatively high percentage of inappropriate rivaroxaban prescribing, predominantly because of inappropriate dosing, which can potentially increase medication-related events. The use of rivaroxaban should be monitored to increase the appropriateness of therapy and improve patient safety.