Grant: Project Grant

The presence of new blood clots in the veins of legs and lungs decreases the quality of life of patients and may cause death. After the first clot, patients have higher chances of developing new clots and this increases the possibility of death. The best way to prevent recurrent blood clots is by giving blood thinners. Current blood thinners are given by injection and orally, but they require taking frequent blood samples to adjust the medication dosing to prevent bleeding. Recently, new blood thinners that are taken orally have been developed. Two of these new blood thinners prevent recurrent clots very well and do not require injections and blood samples for dosing. These new blood thinners are approved in Canada and are currently recommended treatment options for patients with clots in the veins of legs and lungs. A problem however, is that studies are not clear which of these two new blood thinners results in fewer bleeding complications. Since excessive bleeding is a limitation for the use of these new blood thinners, doctors are unsure which drug will be the best blood thinner to use in these patients. We propose to study patients with clots in the veins of legs and lungs who are fit to receive these two new blood thinners. We will determine which of the two new blood thinners results in less bleeding events. This study will help to determine the safest new blood thinner.