Bleeding times, platelet adhesion, and aspirin

The effects of aspirin on well-standardized commercially produced platelet adhesiveness devices and template bleeding times were simultaneously studied in 19 normal volunteers. As expected, there was significant prolongation of the bleeding time after aspirin, but there was no change in platelet adhesion. Reason for the different effects of aspirin on the two tests are discussed. In addition, the normal range of platelet adhesion was further defined utilizing commercially prepared glass-bead columns.