Several studies have been conducted to study the efficacy and safety of rivaroxaban in the atrial fibrillation periprocedural ablation period with similar rates of thromboembolism and major bleeding risks compared with warfarin or dabigatran. We sought to systematically review this evidence using pooled data from multiple studies. Studies comparing rivaroxaban with warfarin or dabigatran in patients undergoing catheter ablation for atrial fibrillation were identified through electronic literature searches of MEDLINE, EMBASE, clinicaltrials.gov, and the Cochrane library up to March 2014. Study-specific risk ratios (RRs) were calculated and combined using a random-effects model meta-analysis. In an analysis involving 3,575 patients, thromboembolism (composite of stroke, transient ischemic attack, and systemic and pulmonary emboli) occurred in 3 of 789 patients (0.4%) in the rivaroxaban group and 10 of 2,786 patients (0.4%) in the warfarin group (RR 0.71, 95% CI 0.26 to 1.96, I(2) = 0%, p = 0.51). Major hemorrhage occurred in 9 of 749 patients (1.2%) in the rivaroxaban group and 22 of 975 patients (2.3%) in the warfarin group (RR 0.49, 95% CI 0.24 to 1.02, I(2) = 0%, p = 0.06). Furthermore, direct efficacy and safety comparisons between rivaroxaban and dabigatran showed nonsignificant differences in rates of thromboembolism (0.5% vs 0.4%, respectively, RR 1.12, 95% CI 0.25 to 4.99, I(2) = 0%, p = 0.88) and major bleeding (1.0% vs 1.6%, respectively, RR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.16 to 3.15, I(2) = 22%, p = 0.66). In conclusion, our study suggests that patients treated with rivaroxaban during periprocedural catheter ablation have similar rates of thromboembolic events and major hemorrhage. Similar results were seen in direct comparisons between dabigatran and rivaroxaban.
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