Conventional anticoagulant agents, such as the vitamin K antagonists (VKAs), which have been the gold standard therapy for over 50 years, have been increasingly replaced by direct-acting oral anticoagulants (DOACs), which directly and selectively inhibit factor IIa (dabigatran) or factor Xa (apixaban, edoxaban, rivaroxaban). Since their introduction, the direct oral anticoagulants have changed the landscape of anticoagulation. With increasing indications and use in various patients, they have become the mainstay of treatment in thromboembolic diseases.