Potential adverse effects of a low-dose aspirin-diuretic combination on kidney function
Sweileh, W.M.
International Journal of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics 45(11): 601-605
2007
ISSN/ISBN: 0946-1965 PMID: 18077925 Document Number: 614178
Objective: Low-dose aspirin and diuretics are commonly co-utilized in patients with cardiovascular diseases. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of a low-dose aspirin - diuretic drug combination on renal function. Methods: In this cross-sectional retrospective study, all patients, excluding those on renal dialysis, admitted to the Internal Medicine Department of the At-Watani Hospital, Nablus, Palestine, were included in the study. Medical data were obtained from patients' medical files. Estimation of creatinine clearance was carried out using the Cockcroft-Gault equation. Patients on the target drug combination were compared with patients who were not receiving the target drug combination. An independent paired t-test and 1-way ANOVA were used to test for significance between groups. Statistics were carried out using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), version 13. Results: A total of 340 subjects (54.4% men) were included in the study. There were 90 patients on the target drug combination and designated as the study group. Of the rernaining 250 patients comprising the control group, H 4 received none of the target drugs and 136 received only one target inedication. There was a significant (p < 0.001) difference in the levels of creatinine clearance between the two groups. Patients on the target drug combination bad significantly lower creatinine clearance levels than those in the control group. Men in the study group had lower creatinine clearances than men in the control group and similar results were found for women. Patients in the study group with >= 2 chronic diseases, had lower creatinine clearances than patients in the control group with >= 2 chronic diseases. Similar results were found in patients with < 2 chronic diseases. Conclusion: Administration of a low-dose aspirin-diuretic drug combination was associated with significantly lower creatinine clearance levels. This finding was independent of gender and the number of chronic diseases present. Monitoring kidney function in patients receiving this drug combination is recornmended.