Venous leg ulceration is the most common type of leg ulcer in which veins in the leg stop working. Aspirin, an acetylsalicylic acid drug, is considered to be an adjuvant treatment for venous leg ulceration if given at low doses. This study aims to determine the ulcer-healing effect of low-dose aspirin in patients with venous leg ulcers.
This community based, parallel-group, pragmatic, randomized, double-blind, controlled trial included a total of 251 adults with venous leg ulcers. The participants were assigned, in a 1:1 ratio, to receive aspirin (n=125) or placebo (n=126). The primary outcome of the study was the time to complete healing of the largest ulcer (if more than one ulcer was present).
In the aspiring group, the median number of days taken to heal the largest ulcer was 77, as compared with 69 in the placebo group. The total number of patients healed at the endpoint was 88(70%) in the aspirin group and 101 (80%) in the placebo group. The estimated change in ulcer was also inferior in the aspirin group (4.1 cm2) than in the placebo group (4.8 cm2).
The findings concluded that the use of low-dose aspirin was not an effective adjuvant treatment for venous leg ulcers.
Ref: https://www.bmj.com/content/359/bmj.j5157
