What Surgeons Should Know About Non-Vitamin K Oral Anticoagulants: A Review.

Non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs) are increasingly prescribed for patients to treat or prevent arterial or venous thromboembolism. The following 4 NOAC agents are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for clinical use: dabigatran etexilate, apixaban, edoxaban tosylate, and rivaroxaban. A good understanding of these agents' pharmacologic properties is important for surgeons given their marked differences compared with warfarin sodium. This review highlights key practical issues surrounding the use of NOACs in the perioperative setting.