Table 1.

Characteristics of direct oral anticoagulants [6,7].

Drugs	Dabigatran	Apixaban	Betrixaban	Edoxaban	Rivaroxaban
Mechanism of action	Direct IIa (Thrombin) Inhibitor	Factor Xa Inhibitor	Factor Xa Inhibitor	Factor Xa Inhibitor	Factor Xa Inhibitor
Onset of action	Within 30 min	~30 min	Within 30 min	Within 30 min	Within 30 min
Duration of action (h)	24–36	At least 24	At least 24	24	24
Baseline elimination half-life in hours	12–17	9–14	19–27	10–14	5–9 (young)/11–13 (elderly)
Dosage
Non-valvular AF	150 mg twice daily	5 mg twice daily **		60 mg once daily	20 mg once daily with the evening meal
VTE treatment	Parenteral anticoagulation for 5–10 days; then dabigatran 150 mg twice daily	10 mg twice daily for one week, then 5 mg twice daily		Parenteral anticoagulation for 5–10 days; then edoxaban 60 mg once daily	15 mg twice daily with food for three weeks; then 20 mg once daily with food
VTE prophylaxis	110 mg for the first day, then 220 mg once daily	2.5 mg twice daily	160 mg on the first day, followed by 80 mg once daily, with food		10 mg once daily, with or without food
Best laboratory measurement	dTT, ECT	Anti-Xa	Anti-Xa	Anti-Xa	Anti-Xa

** Apixaban dose is reduced to 2.5 mg twice daily if two out of three criteria are met (serum creatinine is ≥1.5 mg/dL, age is ≥80 years, or bodyweight is ≤60 kg).