Treatment of dabigatran intoxication in critically ill patients with Acute Kidney Injury: The role of Sustained Low-Efficiency Dialysis

The use of dabigatran in patients with non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF) has widely increased in the last decades, due to its positive effects in terms of safety/efficacy. However, because of the risk of major bleeding, a great degree of attention has been suggested in elderly patients with multiple comorbidities. Notably, dabigatran mainly undergoes renal elimination and dose adjustment is recommended in patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). In this regard, the onset of an abrupt decrease of kidney function may further affect dabigatran pharmacokinetic profile, increasing the risk of acute intoxication. Idarucizumab is the approved antagonist in the case of dabigatran-associated major bleeding or concomitant need of urgent surgery, but its clinical use is limited by the lack of data in patients with Acute Kidney Injury (AKI). Thus, the early start of Extracorporeal Kidney Replacement Therapy (EKRT) could be indicated to remove the drug and to reverse the associated excess anticoagulation. Sustained Low-Efficiency Dialysis (SLED) could represent an effective therapeutic option to reduce the dabigatran plasma levels rapidly while avoiding post-treatment rebound. We present here a case series of three AKI patients with acute dabigatran intoxication, effectively and safely resolved with a single SLED session.