Elective total hip or knee arthroplasty places patients at risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE). As our understanding of the pathophysiology of VTE after joint arthroplasty has increased, pharmacologic strategies have been developed to target different aspects of the coagulation cascade. Various approaches have been used as risk reduction strategies. In 2011 and 2014 the Food and Drug Administration approved rivaroxaban and apixaban as new oral antithrombotic agents. Although controversies remain with regard to the ideal VTE pharmacoprophylactic agent, this class of novel oral anticoagulants has been demonstrated to be safe and to be more effective than enoxaparin.