Continuing Oral Anticoagulants After ≥90 Days Tied to Lower Risk for Recurrent VTE

THURSDAY, Nov. 20, 2025 (HealthDay News) — For adults with venous thromboembolism (VTE), continuing oral anticoagulants (OAC) after initial anticoagulation of at least 90 days is associated with a lower risk for recurrent VTE and a net clinical benefit, according to a study published online Nov. 12 in the The BMJ.

Kueiyu Joshua Lin, M.D., Sc.D., from Brigham and Women”s Hospital in Boston, and colleagues conducted a target trial emulation to compare the effect of continuing or discontinuing OACs among patients with unprovoked VTE after initial treatment of at least 90 days. Patients who continued or discontinued OACs were propensity score-matched; the cohort included 30,554 matched pairs.

The researchers found that after initial anticoagulation ≥90 days, patients who continued treatment had markedly lower rates of recurrent VTE compared with those who discontinued treatment (adjusted hazard ratio, 0.19), and they had higher rates of major bleeding, lower mortality rates, and greater net clinical benefit (adjusted hazard ratios, 1.75, 0.74, and 0.39, respectively). Across OAC types and length of initial OAC treatment, the greater net clinical benefit was consistent.

“Our findings showed a favorable net clinical benefit for extended anticoagulation for preventing recurrent VTE after initial anticoagulation of up to three years,” the authors write.

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