Grosso MJ, Kozaily E, Parvizi J, et al. - Researchers conducted this institutional, retrospective cohort study to determine the safety of acetylsalicylic acid (ASA, aspirin) for venous thromboembolism (VTE) prophylaxis in patients with prior history of gastrointestinal (GI) issues following total joint arthroplasty (TJA). The sample consisted of 19,044 patients who underwent primary total hip and total knee arthroplasty from 2016 to 2019. Patient demographics, VTE prophylaxis and postoperative complications were obtained. For patients with a history of GI issues, ASA is safe for VTE prophylaxis after TJA and is not correlated with a higher risk of postoperative GI bleeds.

There was no significant variation in post-operative GI bleeding between those with and without pre-operative GI issues in the cohort of patients given ASA. ASA was linked with a protective effect against GI bleed in logistic regression analysis.