Adverse Drug Events in Patients on Oral Anticoagulation in the Emergency Department

Rationale: According to the latest National Survey on Care-Related Adverse Events, anticoagulants, including vitamin K antagonists (VKAs), rank first among medications responsible for serious iatrogenic accidents (37% in 2004, 31% in 2009). The EMIR study (2007) showed that VKAs were the leading cause of hospitalization for adverse effects (12.3%), with approximately 5,000 fatal hemorrhage-related accidents annually. Treatment and prevention of thromboembolic events represent a major public health challenge due to increased mortality, severity of functional sequelae, growing number of patients requiring treatment, and medical, social, and economic consequences. In 2013, an estimated 3.12 million patients received anticoagulation (4-5% of the French population). Several types of adverse events under oral anticoagulation appear to have high incidence in emergency settings: traumatic hemor