Use of Direct Oral Anticoagulants in Children and Adolescents

AbstractWhile the need for anticoagulation in children has increased over the last decades, dose regimens of currently used anticoagulants, including low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) and vitamin K antagonist (VKA), are still extrapolated from adult guidelines because well-designed clinical trials were never performed in children. This approach is not optimal due to specific pediatric features of the hemostatic system and pathophysiology of thrombosis. These anticoagulants also present several disadvantages that further hamper optimal anticoagulation of pediatric patients, especially newborns and infants. The…