The Particulars: Aspirin is commonly prescribed to patients with venous thromboembolism (VTE). The effects of aspirin on the risk of recurrent VTE have not been well established in clinical studies.

Data Breakdown: Researchers assessed the rate of recurrent VTE in 822 patients who were evenly randomized to placebo or aspirin. At an average of 37 months, 4.8% of patients in the aspirin group experience a recurrent VTE, compared with 6.5% in the placebo group. Although the difference was not significant, aspirin was shown to significantly reduce the risk of major vascular events—including a composite of VTE, myocardial infarction, stroke, or cardiovascular death—when compared with placebo (5.2% vs 8.0%),.

Take Home Pearl: Although aspirin does not appear to significantly reduce the rate of recurrent VTE when compared with placebo, it does appear to decrease the rate of major vascular events.

Author