Increased blood drainage, complications in patients who stop taking aspirin a week pre-surgery
WEDNESDAY, April 27 (HealthDay News) -- Patients taking low-dose aspirin have significantly increased blood drainage and are at increased risk of complications after spinal surgery, even if they stop taking aspirin seven days before surgery, according to a study published in the April issue of The Spine Journal.
Suk-Bong Kang, M.D., from Inha University Hospital in Incheon, South Korea, and colleagues measured clinical outcomes in patients who underwent spinal fusion surgery for degenerative lumbar disease. Participants were assigned to two groups: one comprising 38 patients who had taken 100 mg aspirin for an average of 40.3 months and stopped at least seven days before surgery, and the control group, including 38 participants who had not taken aspirin. The Oswestry Disability Index was used to measure clinical outcome results.
The investigators found that during surgery, the perioperative blood loss in the aspirin and control groups was similar (855.3 cc and 840.8 cc, respectively). There was a significant difference in blood drainage after surgery in the aspirin group compared to the control group, (864.4 cc and 458.4 cc, respectively). The post-surgery requirement for transfusion was significantly higher in the aspirin group. The rate of post-surgical hemorrhage-related complications was higher in the aspirin group than in the control group.
"The blood drainage after surgery was significantly higher in the aspirin group despite stopping aspirin seven days before surgery. Hence, surgeons should pay careful attention to postoperative blood loss and complications related to hemorrhage in patients who have been taking low-dose aspirin," the authors write.
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