CHICAGO — Patients with coronory artery stents may not be getting the protection they need against the risk of upper GI bleeding due to antiplatelet therapy, according to a poster presented at the annual Digestive Disease Week.
In a chart review of 636 randomly selected patients who received cardiovascular stents, most also received aspirin before (n = 459) and/or after (n = 619) stent placement, which increased their risk of peptic ulcer-related bleeding, according to Steven Chang, M.D., and his colleagues.
After stenting, however, only 155 (24%) were prescribed a proton pump inhibitor; 14 (2%) were prescribed an H2-receptor antagonist; and 1 patient was prescribed sucralfate, reported Dr. Chang, who is a consultant to Santarus, a manufacturer of omeprazole. Outcomes data on GI bleeding were not available in the study.
Kathleen Louden