Two of three commonly prescribed non-vitamin K oral anticoagulants (NOACs)—dabigatran and apixaban—have similar rates of major bleeding compared with aspirin, a large systematic review and ...

Further trials comparing aspirin with newer anticoagulants (dabigatran, apixaban and rivaroxaban) are necessary to assess the role of each agent in stroke prevention in patients with AF.

The researchers found that apixaban had similar rates of major bleeding and intracranial hemorrhage compared with aspirin (risk differences, 0.0 [95 percent confidence interval, −1.3 to 2.6] and ...