Effects of Direct Oral Anticoagulants on Coagulation Testing

Written by Mark Hill on .

The Direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) require no laboratory monitoring, however the BCSH guidelines acknowledge that there may be circumstances where measurement of the concentration of the active drug or its effect may facilitate clinical management decisions (Kitchen et.al 2014). Each DOAC will interfere with almost all clotting tests to a varying degree, depending on the DOAC, assay principles and reagents used.

In order to aid with interpretation of coagulation assays when a DOAC is present in the patients plasma see this guide to illustrate the impact of DOACs on assays used within University Hospitals NHS Trust.

 If further advice is required please speak to Haematology.

 Measurement of non-coumarin anticoagulants and their effects on tests of Haemostasis: Guidance from the British Committee for Standards in Haematology. Steve Kitchen, Elaine Gray, Ian Mackie, Trevor Baglin and Mike Makris, on behalf of the BCSH committee. British Journal of Haematology, 2014, 166, 830–841.

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The laboratories at Heartlands Hospital, Good Hope Hospital and Solihull Hospital form part of the services provided by University Hospitals Birmingham and are UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) accredited to the ISO 15189:2012 standard. For a list of accredited tests and other information please visit the UKAS website using the following link: https://www.ukas.com/find-an-organisation/

  • Heartlands, Good Hope and Solihull Hospital pathology laboratories are a UKAS accredited medical laboratory No.8217
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