GI Bleeding With Aspirin

Family Practice News, Jan 15, 2001

Low-dose aspirin regimens do not significantly decrease the risk for gastrointestinal hemorrhage, according to Sheena Derry and Yoon Kong Loke of the University of Oxford (England).

Their metaanalysis included 24 randomized controlled trials of 66,000 patients who took aspirin daily for a mean of 28 months as prophylaxis for cardiovascular disease. The metaanalysis excluded anyone with an increased risk of gastrointestinal bleeding or aspirin sensitivity (BMJ 321[7270]:1183-87, 2000).

Overall, GI bleeding occurred in 2.5% of those taking aspirin and 1.4% of those taking placebo. Among those taking aspirin in the range of 50-162.5 mg/day, 2.3% developed GI hemorrhaging, compared with 1.5% of those on placebo.