← Issue №4/ week of Jul 26, 2026/Hepatology

Real-world efficacy and safety of avatrombopag in Japanese patients with chronic liver disease and severe thrombocytopenia.

From GI Signals issue №4: what this paper found, what it changes, and where it sits against the current standard of care, reviewed by Simon Mathews, MD.

Hepatology retrospective · n=63 · Jul 30, 2026 · J Gastroenterology · IF 5.7

Real-world efficacy and safety of avatrombopag in Japanese patients with chronic liver disease and severe thrombocytopenia.

New evidencecirrhosisportal hypertensionliver transplant
Clinical takeawayConsider avatrombopag for Japanese CLD patients with severe thrombocytopenia (<50,000/μL) undergoing invasive procedures, particularly in those weighing ≤68 kg (higher response). No adverse events, including portal vein thrombosis, were observed in this study.
What it foundAvatrombopag increased platelets to ≥50,000/μL in 92.5% of Japanese CLD patients with severe thrombocytopenia (<50,000/μL) before procedures, and 96.2% avoided platelet transfusions. Platelet-increasing effects did not differ by prior TPO-RA treatment history.
ContextConfirms avatrombopag's efficacy in a real-world Japanese cohort, aligning with prior trials but adding weight-based response data (≤68 kg better). No new safety signals vs. known TPO-RA risks.
Emergingsuggested applicable standard· American Gastroenterological Association, 'AGA Clinical Practice Update on Surgical Risk Assessment and Perioperative Management in Cirrhosis: Expert Review' (Northup PG et al., Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2019;17(4):595-606). DOI 10.1016/j.cgh.2018.09.043, PMID 30273751.

No single passage of this standard matched the paper closely enough to quote, so none is shown. The standard is cited above.

Our full summary of this standard

Determine GI surgical clearance based on the specific condition and its activity rather than an automatic sign-off: most stable chronic GI conditions (GERD, IBS, controlled IBD, compensated MASLD, asymptomatic gallstones) may be cleared, while active conditions, cirrhosis, and perioperative drug management require explicit stratification and documentation. For any cirrhotic patient, perform mandatory risk stratification with VOCAL-Penn and Child-Pugh class before clearance; manage variceal prophylaxis per individualized endoscopic and hemodynamic assessment (including NSBB for appropriate candidates) and address rebalanced hemostasis without prophylactic INR correction. Defer elective surgery for active GI bleeding, active IBD flare, recent pancreatitis, or unoptimized anemia, and specify perioperative precautions (stress-dose steroids, biologic hold matrix, GLP-1/SGLT2 holds, aspiration precautions) where indicated.

American Gastroenterological Association, 'AGA Clinical Practice Update on Surgical Risk Assessment and Perioperative Management in Cirrhosis: Expert Review' (Northup PG et al., Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2019;17(4):595-606). DOI 10.1016/j.cgh.2018.09.043, PMID 30273751. · reviewed 2026-07-21 ↗
Otsuka Y … Liver Investigators in Northern Kanto Study (LINKS) Group · Journal of Gastroenterology · IF 5.7 · PubMed ↗Permalink
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