As experience in the use of anticoagulant drugs accumulates, analysis of the incidence of complications is necessary to assess the risk of out-patient therapy.
All patients treated with long-term anticoagulants and out-patients during the period from August, 1961, to August, 1962, were reviewed. The incidence of complications and the adequacy of control was studied for this 1-year period, though the great majority (86%) had received treatment for over 1 year. All patients were treated for at least 3 months.
Of the 978 patients studied, 39 (4%) no longer received therapy during this period; 15 patients received no treatment because of