Aspirin is an orally administered non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent used for many years to relieve pain and inflammation. In addition, aspirin therapy for secondary prevention of cardiovascular disease is uniformly recommended and the benefits outweigh the risk of bleeding. However, aspirin for primary prevention has been controversial for many years. While some, but not all, guidelines recommend against routine aspirin use for primary prevention, many patients continue to take aspirin for this purpose even without a physician’s recommendation. In October 2021, USPSTF revised its previously favorable recommendations for aspirin for primary prevention. This has generated some confusion with some physicians and patients questioning aspirin even for secondary prevention where its role is established

Learning Objectives
1.         Review primary prevention trials for aspirin
2.         Evaluate benefit-risk balance for aspirin in primary and secondary prevention
3.         Discuss guideline recommendations

How do we know this is a problem?
https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/draft-recommendation/aspirin-use-to-prevent-cardiovascular-disease-preventive-medication
https://www.bmj.com/content/375/bmj.n2521
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33706985/