Aspirin and commonly used blood thinners equally effective in preventing blood clots post bone fracture surgery: Study
|
Overview
Patients who have surgery to repair bone fractures typically receive a type of injectable blood thinner, low-molecular-weight heparin, to prevent life-threatening blood clots, but a new clinical trial found that over-the-counter aspirin is just as effective.
The multi-center randomized clinical trial of more than 12,000 patients at 21 trauma centers in the U.S. and Canada, is the largest-ever trial in orthopedic trauma patients.
"We expect our findings from this large-scale trial to have an important impact on clinical practice, and potentially even change the standard of care," said the study's principal investigator Robert V. O'Toole,
The study enrolled 12,211 patients with leg or arm fractures that necessitated surgery or pelvic fractures regardless of the specific treatment. Half were randomly assigned to receive 30 mg of injectable low-molecular-weight heparin twice daily. The other half received 81 mg of aspirin twice daily. The follow-up period after surgery was 90 days.
The main finding of the study was that aspirin was "noninferior," or no worse, than low-molecular-weight heparin in preventing death from any cause – 47 patients in the aspirin group died compared with 45 patients in the heparin group. Secondary outcomes noted no differences in non-fatal
pulmonary embolism. The incidence of bleeding complications and all other safety outcomes was similar in both groups. Of all the outcomes studied, the one potential difference noted was fewer blood clots in the legs in the low-molecular-weight heparin group. This relatively small difference was driven by clots lower in the leg, which are of unclear clinical importance.
Reference:
Robert V. O'Toole et al,UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
Speakers
Isra Zaman
B.Sc Life Sciences, M.Sc Biotechnology, B.Ed
Isra Zaman is a Life Science graduate from Daulat Ram College, Delhi University, and a postgraduate in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a flair for writing, and her roles at Medicaldialogues include that of a Sr. content writer and a medical correspondent. Her news pieces cover recent discoveries and updates from the health and medicine sector. She can be reached at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.
