Effect of aspirin in preventing thrombosis of tunneled dialysis catheters and increasing catheter survival in dialysis patients; controlled clinical trial study

Introduction: Central catheters that are inserted for dialysis, often fail due to clots in the lumen or veins with a 63% prevalence. Recent studies have shown that aspirin not only acts as an antiplatelet, but also causes diminishing oxidative stress and inflammation. Objectives: The purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of aspirin in preventing thrombosis in tunneled dialysis catheters in the internal jugular vein and increasing catheter survival in dialysis patients. Patients and Methods: This randomized clinical trial was conducted on 114 dialysis patients who were divided randomly into two matched groups in terms of age and gender. One group was treated with 80 mg daily aspirin regimen while other group was treated with placebo. Additionally necessary information such as age, gender, cause of renal failure, concomitant diseases like diabetes and hypertension, history of cardiovascular disease and stroke, peripheral vascular diseases, history of statin use and history of anti-thrombotic drugs were obtained of patients by checklists. Results: The incidence of venous thrombosis in the aspirin group was 3.5% and in the control group was 14%. The difference was statistically significant (P=0.001). Conclusion: Results showed that administration of aspirin can be effective in increasing catheter survival in dialysis patients and preventing thrombosis of catheters especially in diabetics and male patients. Trial Registration: The trial was approved by the Iranian registry of clinical trials (identifier: IRCT20181128041785N1; https://www.irct.ir/trial/35610, ethical code; IR.ARUMS.REC.1397.190).