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Should nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs be stopped before elective surgery?
1Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville.
Purpose:
--To determine if perioperative use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) might be associated with increased postoperative morbidity.
Patients And Methods:
--Records from 165 patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty from 1984 to 1987 were reviewed. Patients taking NSAIDs at hospital admission were compared with those who were not.
Results:
--Patients taking NSAIDs had more postoperative bleeding complications (gastrointestinal tract bleeding and/or hypotension) than did patients not taking those agents. Complications were more frequent in patients using NSAIDs with half-lives longer than 6 hours.
Conclusion:
--Patients undergoing elective surgery should stop taking NSAIDs in time to allow elimination of the drug; those patients who need to take these agents perioperatively should use drugs with short half-lives.