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Low dose aspirin therapy and renal function in elderly patients

Authors Akinwusi P, Oluyombo R, Ogunro P, Adeniji A, Okunola O, Ayodele O

Received 11 October 2012

Accepted for publication 20 November 2012

Published 10 January 2013 Volume 2013:6 Pages 19—24

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/IJGM.S39065

Checked for plagiarism Yes

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 4



Patience Olayinka Akinwusi,1,2 Rotimi Oluyombo,2 Paul Sunday Ogunro,3 Adetunji Oladeni Adeniji,4 Oluyomi Olusola Okunola,5 Olugbenga Edward Ayodele2

1Department of Medicine, Osun State University, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria; 2Department of Medicine, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria; 3Department of Chemical Pathology, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria; 4Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, LAUTECH Teaching Hospital, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria; 5Department of Medicine, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria

Purpose: To determine whether low dose aspirin has any deleterious effects on renal function in elderly patients.
Methods: We conducted a prospective pilot study of 30 Nigerians older than 60 years with various chronic ailments necessitating the use of low dose aspirin. Patients gave their consent, and institutional ethical clearance was obtained. Each patient's baseline samples at enrolment (before commencing aspirin use) served as a control, and subsequent weekly samples were compared. The weekly mean of each parameter was calculated, and the differences of means from baseline were determined, and values were compared for statistical differences with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 16.
Results: We found that a majority of patients (86.67%) had basal renal functions at chronic kidney disease stages 1 and 2. When compared with the corresponding baseline parameters, the mean weekly serum and urinary electrolytes, urea, creatinine, and uric acid parameters did not change, and the P-value did not show any statistical significance. However, there was positive statistical significance for the creatinine clearance (P = 0.025). Also, unlike in previous studies, anemia and hypoalbuminemia did not affect the renal function parameters.
Conclusion: This study did not show any deleterious effects with short-term, low dose (75 mg daily) aspirin use on kidney functions in elderly patients. However, caution should be exercised when dealing with patients in renal stages 3–5 and the very elderly, aged ≥ 80 years.

Keywords: elderly, low dose aspirin, renal functions

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