An observational study to assess the gastrointestinal side effects of low dose aspirin therapy for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events.

Jeyalalitha Rathinam; Subahan S.P

Volume : VIII, Issue : II, February - 2019

An observational study to assess the gastrointestinal side effects of low dose aspirin therapy for primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events.

Jeyalalitha Rathinam, Subahan S. P

Abstract :

Cardiovascular disease is a leading cause of mortality in many parts of the world. Low-dose aspirin is widely used for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and is a standard measure of therapy for primary and secondary prevention of CVD. Aspirin is associated with upper gastrointestinal side effects including ulcers and bleeding.This study has been undertaken with an aim of assessing the occurrence of upper GI side effects with low dose aspirin in a tertiary care setting . Materials and methods : An observational study on 106 patients who were on low dose aspirin therapy was done to assess the occurrence of various gastrointestinal side effects . Patients who were on low dose aspirin therapy for both primary and secondary prevention of CVD were included in the study. Results : Out of the total 150 patients assessed who were on low dose aspirin therapy, 106 patients had gastrointestinal side effects. 18.86% had dyspepsia, 21.69% had nausea alone , 16.98% had both nausea and vomiting , 0.94% had an episode of haematemesis , 30.18% had heartburn ,11.32% patients had heartburn and ulceration. No incidence of major GI bleeding was noted . 60.37% patients were on concomitant proton pump inhibitor therapy. 32.18% had recovered after therapy while 56.25% were found to be recovering. Conclusion : It was found that dyspepsia ,nausea , vomiting , heartburn and ulceration were the commonly occurring side effects among patients treated with low dose aspirin therapy. Proton pump inhibitors were used to overcome the aspirin induced GI side effects . The side effects were found to have reduced after PPI therapy