Perioperative Aspirin Might Benefit Patients with Prior PCI

Perioperative aspirin seems beneficial for high-risk patients undergoing noncardiac surgery who’ve previously undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), according to a subanalysis from the POISE-2 trial. The findings were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine and presented at the American Heart Association conference on Monday.

In POISE-2, 10,000 adults with or at risk for atherosclerotic disease who were undergoing noncardiac surgery were randomized to receive perioperative low-dose aspirin plus clonidine; placebo plus clonidine; aspirin plus placebo; or double placebo. Among the 470 participants with prior PCI, aspirin was associated with significantly lower risk for the primary outcome — 30-day incidence of death or nonfatal myocardial infarction —- relative to placebo (6% vs. 11%). Aspirin’s benefits did not extend to patients without prior PCI.