At 36 hours, significantly more patients in the 10-mg
group (44%) had therapeutic INRs compared with patients
in the 5-mg group (8%; p = 0.005). The authors concluded
that an initial dose of 10 mg achieved a therapeutic INR
more rapidly than did 5 mg. However, they also found that,
at 36, 60, and 84 hours, there were more patients with
supratherapeutic INRs (>3.0) in the 10-mg group, although
these differences were significant only at 60 hours (p =
0.002). There was no bleeding reported in either group;
however, patients were followed for only 108 hours, making
it more difficult to assess.7In summary, the authors concluded that an initial dose
of 5 mg was superior to 10 mg because it caused fewer
supratherapeutic INRs.