Venovenous haemodiafiltration for the management of dabigatran overdose in intensive care unit

Clin Kidney J. 2015 Apr;8(2):199-201. doi: 10.1093/ckj/sfv001. Epub 2015 Jan 24.

Abstract

Dabigatran is a direct thrombin inhibitor indicated for thromboembolism prophylaxis in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation. The procedure to manage dabigatran-associated haemorrhages is not well formalized. Conventional haemodialysis has been evaluated with good results. Patients with dabigatran-associated bleeding may be unstable and convective techniques like venovenous haemodiafiltration (HDF) can be interesting. We report the case of a 74-year-old, critically ill patient with haemorrhagic shock and dabigatran overexposure due to acute kidney injury. He underwent HDF and dabigatran blood concentrations decreased from 325.3 ng/mL to 160.5 ng/mL. We report here key pharmacokinetics parameters (half-life, extraction coefficient, clearance).

Keywords: dabigatran overexposure; haemodiafiltration; haemorrhagic shock; intensive care.