Fondaparinux 1,5 mg for the Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) in Medical Patients With Renal Insufficiency

Summary

Fondaparinux is a parenteral anticoagulant drug and is approved for the prevention of venous thromboembolism in high risk medical patients. A relevant proportion of medical patients have moderate to severe renal insufficiency, which is an independent risk factor for bleeding. This risk may be further increased when low molecular weight heparin or fondaparinux are administered in patients with severe renal insufficiency, defined by a creatinine clearance of lower than 30 mL/min. No clear indications are available to reduce such risk in patients who require thromboprophylaxis. A lower dose of fondaparinux, 1.5 mg daily, has been recently approved for the prevention of venous thromboembolism in the specific population of patients with a creatinine clearance between 20 and 50 mL/min (European Marketing Authorization). However, there are to our knowledge no clinical studies that have assessed the safety and efficacy of this reduced dosage in medical patients.

Timeline

Start

2009-04

Primary completion

2011-12

Completion

2012-03

Publications

• Background Cohen AT, Davidson BL, Gallus AS, Lassen MR, Prins MH, Tomkowski W, Turpie AG, Egberts JF, Lensing AW; ARTEMIS Investigators. Efficacy and safety of fondaparinux for the prevention of venous thromboembolism in older acute medical patients: randomised placebo controlled trial. BMJ. 2006 Feb 11;332(7537):325-9. doi: 10.1136/bmj.38733.466748.7C. Epub 2006 Jan 26.
• Background Lim W, Dentali F, Eikelboom JW, Crowther MA. Meta-analysis: low-molecular-weight heparin and bleeding in patients with severe renal insufficiency. Ann Intern Med. 2006 May 2;144(9):673-84. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-144-9-200605020-00011.
• Ageno W, Riva N, Noris P, Di Nisio M, La Regina M, Arioli D, Ria L, Monzani V, Cuppini S, Lupia E, Giorgi Pierfranceschi M, Dentali F; FONDAIR study group. Safety and efficacy of low-dose fondaparinux (1.5 mg) for the prevention of venous thromboembolism in acutely ill medical patients with renal impairment: the FONDAIR study. J Thromb Haemost. 2012 Nov;10(11):2291-7. doi: 10.1111/j.1538-7836.2012.04908.x.

Drugs

Indications