Safety of short-term dual antiplatelet therapy after drug-eluting stents: An updated meta-analysis with direct and adjusted indirect comparison of randomized control trials

•This is an updated meta-analysis following recently published RCTs.•8 RCTs were identified and 7 were included accounting for 16,318 patients.•There was no significant difference in ischemic endpoints and mortality between short and long term DAPT.•We found a significant reduction in risk of major bleeding and total bleeding with shorter duration of DAPT.•3 to 6 months of DAPT in low risk patients appears safe with less bleeding, and no increase in thrombotic risk or mortality.

BackgroundDuration of dual antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) following drug-eluting stents (DES) remains controversial and is a topic of ongoing research.MethodsDirect and adjusted indirect comparisons of all the recent randomized control trials (RCTs) were performed to evaluate the safety of short-term versus long-term DAPT following DES.Results8 RCTs were identified and 7 (16,318 subjects) were included. 4 groups of 3 vs 12 months, 6 vs 12 months, 6 vs 24 months and 12 vs 24 months of DAPT were used for direct comparison. There was no significant difference in stent thrombosis, myocardial infarction (MI), stroke and revascularization, cardiovascular and all-cause mortality between the different durations in all 4 groups. Pooling trials of 3-6 months of DAPT against 12 months, we found a significant reduction in the risk of total bleeding (RR 0.61, 95% CI 0.43-0.87). Adjusted indirect comparison between 3 vs 6 months, 3 vs 24 months and 6 vs 24 month duration of DAPT showed no significant differences in risk of death or MI, or revascularization between 3 or 6 months and 24 months. However, 24 months of DAPT was associated with significantly more bleeding than 3 or 6 months.Conclusions3 to 6 months of DAPT following second generation DES and above is safe with no increased risk of thrombotic complications and mortality, and lower bleeding risk. However a tailored approach may be more appropriate for high-risk patients.