Acute toxicity of aspirin in hospitalized medical patients

Among 2,391 recipients of plain aspirin tablets, 121 (5.1%) were reported to have adverse reactions. Minor gastrointestinal disturbances, particularly heartburn and nausea, were most common (2.1%). Central nervous system effects were second (1.2%). Among these, tinnitus was reported most often (0.8%); deafness occurred in eight patients (0.3%). Gastrointestinal bleeding, the third major category of adverse reactions, occurred in 1.0% of recipients; it was not considered serious in any of the patients with reactions judged "definitely" or "probably" related to aspirin. The frequency of all adverse reactions increased as the unit dose, daily dose and total dose became larger. Deafness occurred only at high doses. Reactions were more common in females.