When Should Aspirin Be Stopped Before Elective Surgery?

Prior to elective surgery, surgeons usually ask patients to discontinue aspirin therapy. In this randomized study, researchers sought to determine when aspirin should be stopped.

Thirty-eight healthy volunteers received 14-day courses of aspirin (75 mg or 300 mg daily) or placebo. Two measures of platelet activity (a standardized template bleeding time using the Ivy technique, and a commercially available platelet function test that mimics conditions in wounds) were obtained at baseline. After the 14 days of treatment, tests were repeated daily until platelet function had returned to baseline. Bleeding times of all aspirin recipients returned to baseline by 4 days after the last dose of aspirin, and platelet function normalized by 6 days. Ef…