¿Dabigatrán etexilato frente a warfarina como anticoagulante oral de elección? Una revisión de los datos clínicos

For many years, warfarin was the only effective oral anticoagulant to prevent and treat thromboembolism. Nevertheless, its clinical use is limited by a narrow therapeutic window, extensive drug interactions, need of strict dietary control and frequent monitoring. The pharmacological response is also unpredictable and highly variable among patients. Suboptimal anticoagulation can lead to detrimental thromboembolic events or life-threatening bleeding. Direct thrombin inhibitor (DTI) activity represents a new class of anticoagulant activity that was intended to replace warfarin. Ximelagatran was the first DTI shown to have similar efficacy to warfarin, but failed to replace it because of a high incidence of liver toxicity. Dabigatran etexilate is another novel DTI with a more predictable pharmacokinetic profile and fewer drug interactions compared with warfarin. Recent large-scaled, randomized studies have shown that it does not share ximelagatran's hepatotoxicity, and is as effective as conventional anticoagulants for venous thromboembolism (VTE) and prophylaxis in atrial fibrillation (AF). These findings led to the approval of dabigatran etexilate for thromboprophylaxis following hip or knee replacement surgery in Europe, Canada and the United Kingdom. Here we summarize the latest evidence concerning the use of dabigatran etexilate in VTE (BISTRO, RE-MODEL, RE-NOVATE, RE-MOBILIZE and RECOVER) and AF (PETRO and RELY). Potential problems related to dabigatran use are also discussed to examine whether it can truly replace warfarin as the gold standard.

Resumen tomado de PubMed (NCBI) para el registro citado, en el idioma original. La versión de referencia es la de la publicación original.

El resumen se deja sin traducir para conservar la redacción original de los autores.

La revisión compara dabigatrán etexilato con warfarina, el único anticoagulante oral eficaz durante muchos años, pero limitado por margen terapéutico estrecho, numerosas interacciones y respuesta farmacológica impredecible. Dabigatrán etexilato, inhibidor directo de la trombina con farmacocinética más predecible, mostró en ensayos aleatorizados eficacia similar a la de los anticoagulantes convencionales en tromboembolia venosa y fibrilación auricular. Está aprobado en Europa, Canadá y Reino Unido para tromboprofilaxis tras prótesis de cadera o rodilla; los autores debaten si puede sustituirla.

Explore cómo esta investigación se conecta con la práctica clínica

Más estudios revisados por pares en la categoría «Desarrollo de fármacos».

• Novel Leech Antimicrobial Peptides — Hirunipins — Kumar et al. (2025)
• Medicinal Leech Draft Genome — Anticoagulant Gene Survey — Kvist S, Manzano-Marín A, de Carle D, Trontelj P, Siddall ME (2020)
• Effects of hirudotherapy on liver functions, lipid profile, and insulin sensitivity in rats with metabolic syndrome — Bilden A et al. (2026)
• Hirudotherapy in Medicine and Dentistry — Jha K et al. (2015)
• Medicinal leech therapy (hirudotherapy): a brief overview — Singh A (2010)
• Hirudoterapia en la presbiacusia precoz en liquidadores del accidente de Chernóbil durante los años posteriores a la catástrofe — Zabolotnyi D, Mishchanchuk N (2019)
• Investigation of oxidant-antioxidant status in patients treated with hirudotherapy: an experimental study — Sarikan I, Savas H (2024)
• Leech therapeutic applications — Abdualkader A et al. (2013)
• Non-Occlusive Mesenteric Ischemia Due to Hirudotherapy: A Case Report — Akalın Ç, Ekmen N (2020)
• Leech therapy: a history — Hyson J (2005)

Ver toda la investigación analizada por la ASH →