TY - JOUR T1 - Ximelagatran prevented secondary venous thromboembolism JF - Evidence Based Medicine JO - Evid Based Med SP - 107 LP - 107 DO - 10.1136/ebm.9.4.107 VL - 9 IS - 4 A2 - , Y1 - 2004/07/01 UR - http://ebm.bmj.com/content/9/4/107.abstract N2 - Schulman S, Wåhlander K, Lundström T, et al. Secondary prevention of venous thromboembolism with the oral direct thrombin inhibitor ximelagatran. N Engl J Med 2003;349:1713–21.OpenUrlCrossRefPubMedWeb of Science
 
 Q What is the long term efficacy and safety of ximelagatran after 6 months of standard anticoagulant therapy for secondary prevention of venous thromboembolism (VTE)? Clinical impact ratings GP/FP/Primary care ★★★★★☆☆ IM/Ambulatory care ★★★★★★☆ Haematology ★★★★★★★ Design: randomised placebo controlled trial (Thrombin Inhibitor in Venous Thromboembolism [THRIVE III]). Allocation: concealed.* Blinding: blinded (clinicians, patients, {data collectors, outcome assessors, and data analysts}†).* Follow up period: 18 months. Setting 142 centres in 18 countries. Patients 1233 patients who were ⩾18 years of age with symptomatic, objectively confirmed deep venous thrombosis (DVT) or pulmonary embolism (PE) and had received anticoagulant therapy for 6 months with no recurrent VTE event. Exclusion criteria: indication for continuous anticoagulant therapy, haemoglobin level <9.0 g/dl, platelet count <90 000/mm3, pregnancy, lactation, expected survival <18 months, renal impairment, clinically important liver disease, or persistent elevation of the aminotransferase level >3 times the upper limit of normal. Intervention: twice daily ximelagatran, 24 mg (n = 612), or placebo (n = 611) for 18 months. All patients discontinued anticoagulant therapy but did not begin study treatment until … ER -