NICE recommends oral anticoagulants after lower limb arthroplasty, as they are thought to lead to better outpatient compliance than injected anticoagulants. Having prescribed self-administered Dalteparin for many years, we began using oral Dabigatran in December 2010. The change afforded an opportunity to compare compliance and acceptability of the two treatments. Patients were recruited at discharge and telephoned at 28 days. Left over doses were counted to assess compliance. Side-effects, complications and patient views were also recorded.Aims
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