Managing venous thromboembolism with novel oral anticoagulants in the elderly and other high-risk patient groups.

The novel oral anticoagulants represent a new era of anticoagulation for patients with deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. These agents may offer advantages to patients in whom the use of traditional anticoagulants is typically challenging, such as elderly patients, patients with renal impairment and those with low body weight. Currently, rivaroxaban and dabigatran are the only approved novel oral anticoagulants for the treatment and secondary prevention of venous thromboembolism. It is likely that additional agents will become available in the near future. This review summarises recent phase III data for these agents, focusing, where possible, on results obtained in frail patients.