Hip arthroplasty fatality related to dabigatran induced gastrointestinal haemorrhage

Abstract

We report a fatality due to massive gastrointestinal haemorrhage in a patient receiving prophylactic dabigatran etexilate following a total hip replacement. A 79-year-old woman was commenced on dabigatran for venous thromboembolic prophylaxis following a total hip replacement. She presented again four days after surgery with haematemesis and hypotension but her coagulopathy could not be corrected, leading to her death. This case highlights the lack of reversal agent for dabigatran etexilate that resulted in this fatal complication.