Eliquis Overdosage

There is no antidote to apixaban available in Malaysia. Overdose of apixaban may result in a higher risk of bleeding. In the event of haemorrhagic complications, treatment must be discontinued and the source of bleeding investigated. The initiation of appropriate treatment, e.g., surgical haemostasis or the transfusion of fresh frozen plasma should be considered.
In controlled clinical trials, orally-administered apixaban in healthy subjects at doses up to 50 mg daily for 3 to 7 days (25 mg twice daily (bid) for 7 days or 50 mg once daily (od) for 3 days) had no clinically relevant adverse reactions.
In healthy subjects, administration of activated charcoal 2 and 6 hours after ingestion of a 20-mg dose of apixaban reduced mean apixaban AUC by 50% and 27%, respectively, and had no impact on C_max. Mean half-life of apixaban decreased from 13.4 hours when apixaban was administered alone to 5.3 hours and 4.9 hours, respectively, when activated charcoal was administered 2 and 6 hours after apixaban. Thus, administration of activated charcoal may be useful in the management of apixaban overdose or accidental ingestion.
For situations when reversal of anticoagulation is needed due to life-threatening or uncontrolled bleeding, administration of prothrombin complex concentrates (PCCs) or recombinant factor VIIa may also be considered. Reversal of apixaban pharmacodynamic effects, as demonstrated by changes in the thrombin generation assay, was evident at the end of infusion and reached baseline values within 4 hours after the start of a 4-factor PCC 30 minute infusion in healthy subjects. However, there is no clinical experience with the use of 4 factor PCC products to reverse bleeding in individuals who have received apixaban. Currently there is no experience with the use of recombinant factor VIIa in individuals receiving apixaban. Re-dosing of recombinant factor VIIa could be considered and titrated depending on improvement of bleeding.
Depending on local availability, a consultation of a coagulation expert should be considered in case of major bleedings.
Haemodialysis decreased apixaban AUC by 14% in subjects with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) when a single dose of apixaban 5 mg was administered orally. Therefore, haemodialysis is unlikely to be an effective means of managing apixaban overdose.