The Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) has accepted Pradaxa (dabigatran etexilate), the first oral anticoagulant to be licensed in the UK for more than 50 years, for routine use in the NHS in Scotland for patients undergoing hip and knee replacements. The SMC decision is the first recommendation for NHS use of Pradaxa in the UK and was welcomed by the manufacturer, Boehringer Ingelheim.
Pradaxa does not require anticoagulation monitoring, having a rapid onset and offset of action and a predictable anticoagulatant effect. In trials, Pradaxa was found to be as effective in preventing clots as the current gold standard treatment (enoxaparin).
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