- Taking aspirin before and after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery may reduce risk of death.
- Aspirin prevents blood from clotting.
- Elevated risk of blood clots can occur after cardiac surgery.
Most previous studies on aspirin's effects in cardiac surgery were limited by the length of follow-up. And little is known about perioperative aspirin's effect on the long-term survival in patients undergoing CABG surgery. This study from institutions in the US and China studied the effects of perioperative aspirin on long-term mortality in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG).
The team looked at the medical records of 9,584 patients who received cardiac surgery in three hospitals, selecting the 4,132 individuals who underwent CABG. This selection was then further divided into four groups; in which patients had one of preoperative or postoperative aspirin, both, or neither.
Among the studied patients, 76.5 percent received preoperative aspirin, 23.5 percent did not, 92.3 percent received postoperative aspirin, and just 7.7 percent did not. Patients taking preoperative aspirin were significantly more likely to have other risk factors including smoking, diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, angina, high blood pressure, and previous heart attacks.
For patients taking preoperative aspirin, 4-year mortality was 14.8 percent versus 18.1 percent for those not taking preoperative aspirin, a statistically significant mortality reduction of 18 percent. For postoperative aspirin, there was a larger mortality reduction: those taking aspirin had a 4-year mortality rate of 10.7 percent, compared with 16.2 percent in the non-aspirin patients -- a statistically significant mortality reduction of 34 percent.
He concludes: "Among patients undergoing CABG, perioperative uses of aspirin were associated with significant reduction in 30-day mortality and improvement in long-term survival, without significant increased postoperative bleeding complications. We believe that all patients undergoing CABG should take aspirin before and after the procedure, except those for whom aspirin is contraindicated."
- Study Shows Taking Aspirin Before or After Coronaryartery Bypass Graft Is Associated with a Lower Risk of Death - ( https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-06/eso-sst053118.php)
Source-Eurekalert