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Warfarin — the most commonly prescribed oral anticoagulant worldwide — has a narrow therapeutic range. Many drugs, including antibiotics, have been linked to bleeding in warfarin users. Patients receiving anticoagulants generally are older and have more comorbidities than the general population and may be at increased risk for this complication.
To assess the bleeding risk associated with concomitant warfarin and antibiotic use in older patients, researchers performed a case-control study involving a cohort of Medicare beneficiaries who were using warfarin continuously in 2007–2008. Within this group of 38,762 patients, 798 (2.1%) were hospitalized in 2008 for bleeding and met the study criteria. Each case patient was matched with three cont…