Among patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF), concomitant use of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) with antiplatelet agents was associated with a similar risk of gastrointestinal bleeding, and a lower risk of intracranial hemorrhage and other major bleeding than concomitant vitamin K antagonist (VKA)-antiplatelet use, a recent study found. Using computerized healthcare databases, researchers conducted a cohort study among patients newly diagnosed with non-valvular AF between January 2011 and March 2014. They found:

• A total of 5,301 patients initiated concomitant DOAC-antiplatelet use, while 9,106 patients initiated concomitant VKA-antiplatelet use.
• During a median follow-up of 1.6 months, concomitant DOAC-antiplatelet use was associated with a similar risk of gastrointestinal bleeding (HR, 1.08), but a decreased risk of intracranial hemorrhage (HR, 0,46), and other major bleeding (HR, 0.68) compared with concomitant VKA-antiplatelet use.
• There were no duration-response relations for the 3 bleeding outcomes.