As per a retrospective study published in “The Journal of Arthroplasty”, NSAIDs were not found to be linked with gastrointestinal bleeding and can be safely prescribed for a majority of patients after total joint arthroplasty. Researchers undertook this assessment to determine whether extended NSAIDs after joint arthroplasty can raise the gastrointestinal bleeding risk.

Overall, 28,794 adults who underwent joint arthroplasty were included. The episodes of gastrointestinal bleeding within 90 days of postsurgery were prospectively recognized. Using electronic questionnaires, the postsurgery medications were directly reported by patients. With the aid of binary logistic regression, the primary assessment was carried out.

It was noted that 74 (0.26%) episodes of gastrointestinal bleeding took place within 90 days (median 8 days) after surgery. Of 5,086 participants with complete data incorporated in the primary assessment, 59.6% had used NSAIDs with a median duration of two weeks (interquartile range, 0–6 weeks). Individuals having gastrointestinal bleeding were considerably older (71.3 years vs. 67.0 years), needed longer hospitalizations (2.1 vs. 1.5 days), and had peptic ulcer history (10.8% vs. 0.9%).

But, no positive link between gastrointestinal bleeding and NSAID usage was noted. The odds of gastrointestinal bleeding were found to be minimized in individuals taking NSAIDs. Notably, gastrointestinal bleeding was linked with antiplatelets, anticoagulants, and to a lesser extent aspirin. The highest odds of gastrointestinal bleeding took place in individuals having peptic ulcers and individuals receiving anticoagulation medications and antiplatelets. Bilateral surgery and increasing age were also linked with gastrointestinal bleeding, concluded by the authors.