Managing the Change
New Oral Anticoagulant Drugs (NOADs)
Draft guidelines recently published by NICE are permitting the use of a new oral anticoagulant drug (NOAD) for the prevention of stroke in certain patients with atrial fibrillation (AF).
With other NOADs likely to have a role in the management of thromboembolic conditions and stroke prevention in the future, the effect on Practice Prescribing Budgets and workload is likely to be significant.
Managing the selection of patients suitable for treatment with NOADs, including those that transfer from warfarin, is likely to be based on INR control as well as existing risk factors for stroke or bleeding such as CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED.
Recent figures indicate that users of INRstar are obtaining greater than 60% Time in Therapeutic Range (TTR) in over 80% of patients. This combined with a straightforward presentation of other risk factors, can assist clinicians in managing these changes.
