Journal of Clinical and Investigative Dermatology
Research Article
Efficacy and Safety of Low-Dose Aspirin for Venous Ulcers: Randomized Clinical Trial
Sanchez-Dipasupil E*, Gulmatico-Flores Z and Lopez-Villafuerte L
Department of Dermatology, Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center,
Philippines
*Address for Correspondence: Sanchez-Dipasupil E, Department of Dermatology, Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center, Philippines, Phone: +639178777978; E-mail: edessahmd@gmail.com
Submission: 16 November, 2019
Accepted: 20 December, 2019
Published: 23 December, 2019
Copyright: © 2019 Sanchez-Dipasupil E, et al. This is an open access
article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Background: Venous leg ulcers are chronic relapsing wounds which impair
quality of life and has significant health economic burden. Many venous leg ulcers
take over 6 months to heal and a quarter will fail to heal completely. Current
standard treatments include compression therapy, bandages and Pentoxifylline.
Few published trials in United Kingdom and Spain demonstrated that Aspirin
may hasten healing of VLUs.
Methods: A prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
was conducted to provide evidence regarding the efficacy and safety of Aspirin in
addition to standard care. Patients aged 18 to 75 with at least one chronic venous
leg ulcer were recruited. Both the treatment and placebo groups were instructed
to take 2 tablets of 80 mg Aspirin once daily after breakfast for a maximum of
12 weeks or less in case of complete ulcer healing. Eligible patients were stratified
according to size (≤ 5 cm2 and > 5 cm2). The primary outcome measure was the
proportion of patients with wound closure described as eschar formation over the
entire surface. Safety outcomes were assessed in all participants.
Results: A total of 34 patients were enrolled in the study. In the aspirin group,
33.33% of patients had complete ulcer closure compared with 0% in the control
group (RR 0.6667, 95% CI 0.4661 to 0.9535, P = 0.0264). Mean healed area
of ulcer in the aspirin group was 36.19 cm2 compared to 21.39cm2 in the control
group. Healing time for ulcers in the aspirin group was at 6 ± 2.19 weeks.
Conclusion: This study demonstrated that Aspirin 160mg has a favorable
effect and can be given as an adjunct to standard wound care and compression in
the management of venous ulcers. Proper selection of patients will prevent adverse
effects and improve healing rate and time.