Aspirin Could Help Fend Off Blood Clots

Aspirin has potential as an effective and cost-efficient way to prevent venous thromboembolism (VTE) for patients who are unable to undergo anticoagulant therapy, according to new research led by University of Sydney investigators.  

John Simes, MD, BSc, director of the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre and professor at the University of Sydney, and colleagues conducted an analysis of 2 studies that involved 1,224 patients with VTE, or blood clots in the veins, for which the patients were given 100 mg of aspirin a day. The researchers followed up with these patients for a minimum of 2 years, finding that aspirin reduced the risk of recurrent blood clots in these patients by nearly 42 percent.  

If left untreated, those with blood clots in their veins with no apparent cause have a 10 percent risk of developing another clot in the first year, and a 5 percent chance of experiencing another clot each year thereafter, according to Simes. While treatment to stop blood clots from forming typically consists of anticoagulant drugs for a period of about 6 to 12 months, these patients remain at risk of recurrent blood clots, he says.  

While he describes the findings from this study as promising, Simes notes that aspirin is not as effective as anticoagulant therapy, and stresses that it should not be used to replace these drugs. He adds, however, that aspirin could offer a long-term alternative for patients that are either stopping anticoagulant therapy or are unable to undergo the treatment.

Patients experiencing an unprovoked VTE event—those without an underlying reversible risk factor such as recent surgery—“remain at increased risk of further VTE events, and would usually benefit from anticoagulant therapy,” says Simes.

“For those patients unable or unwilling to have such treatment,” he adds, “aspirin is provides a relatively safe, simple and inexpensive treatment to reduce the risk of recurrent events.”

—Mark McGraw

Reference

Simes J, Becattini C, et al. Aspirin for the Prevention of Recurrent Venous Thromboemboism, The INSPIRE Collaboration. Circulation. 2014.