Perioperative Aspirin Use Need Not Prevent RP

Perioperative aspirin  useshould not be considered an absolutecontraindication to radical prostatectomy (RP), according to investigators. 

Using the Premier Hospital Database,an all-payer hospital discharge databasein the United States, Matthew D. Ingham,MD, and colleagues from HarvardMedical School in Boston studied 157,674patients undergoing RP (4400 who continuedon aspirin and 153,274 not takingaspirin). Perioperative aspirin use was notsignificantly associated with in-hospitalcomplication rates. 

Although the 90-dayrates of myocardial infarction, majorcomplications, and readmission werehigher among aspirin users, “we suspectthis is likely the result of an uncapturedconfounder—a known weaknessof discharge datasets,” they concluded.Aspirin users were older, less healthy,and more likely to receive an open RPthan non-aspirin users, the investigatorsnoted.