ACETYLSALICYLIC acid = ASPIRIN = ASA oral

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    Last updated: April 2024

     

    Prescription under medical supervision

     

     

    Due to their better safety profile, prefer paracetamol or ibuprofen for pain and fever management.

     

    Therapeutic action

    • Analgesic, antipyretic, non steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID)
    • Platelet antiaggregant (at low dose)

    Indications

    • Mild pain, fever
    • Secondary prevention of severe pre-eclampsia

    Forms and strengths

    • 300 mg tablet
    • 75 mg enteric coated tablet

    Dosage and duration

    Pain and fever
    Adolescent over 16 years and adult: 300 mg to 1 g every 4 to 6 hours (max. 4 g daily), for 1 to 3 days

     

    Prevention of pre-eclampsia:
    75 to 150 mg once daily from the 12th to the 36th week of gestation. Stop treatment 5 to 10 days before the expected date of delivery. 

    Contra-indications, adverse effects, precautions

    • Do not administer to patients with allergy to aspirin and NSAID, gastroduodenal ulcer, coagulation disorders, haemorrhage, severe renal, hepatic or cardiac impairment.
    • Do not administer to children for pain or fever (use paracetamol).
    • Administer with caution to older patients or patients with asthma.
    • Do not exceed indicated doses, particularly in older patients. Intoxications are severe, possibly fatal.
    • May cause:
      • allergic reactions, epigastric pain, gastroduodenal ulcer, haemorrhage;
      • dizziness, tinnitus (early signs of overdose);
      • Reye’s syndrome in children (encephalopathy and severe hepatic disorders).

    For all cases above, stop aspirin.

    • Do not combine with methotrexate, anticoagulants or NSAID.
    • Monitor combination with insulin (increased hypoglycaemia) and corticosteroids.
    • Pregnancy: 
      • pain and fever: avoid. CONTRA-INDICATED from the beginning of the 6th month. Use paracetamol. 
      • prevention of pre-eclampsia: do not exceed 150 mg daily.
    • Breast-feeding: avoid. Use paracetamol.

    Remarks

    • Take during meals, preferably with a lot of water.
       
    • Do not crush enteric coated tablets.
    • Aspirin may be administered in secondary prevention of atherothrombosis, at a dose of 75 to 300 mg daily.
    • Also comes in 500 mg tablets and 300 mg dispersible tablets.

    Storage

     
    –  Below 25 °C 
    Do not use if tablets have a strong smell of vinegar. A slight vinegar smell is always present.