FAQs A-Fib Drug Therapy: Warfarin + Aspirin?
8. “I’m on warfarin. Can I also take aspirin, since it works differently than warfarin? Wouldn’t that give me more protection from an A-Fib (ischemic) stroke?”
No, combining is dangerous.
Preliminary research indicates that combining anticoagulants (warfarin) and antiplatelets (aspirin) in the same patient is associated with a substantially higher risk of fatal or non-fatal internal bleeding.
There’s no indication that combining warfarin with an antiplatelet (aspirin, clopidogrel, or both) reduces the risk of ischemic stroke.
Added 8/10/15. Aspirin is no longer recommended as first-line therapy:
Aspirin has been downgraded from class 1 in the 2006 guidelines to class 2B in the 2014 guidelines.
In a Danish registry study, aspirin didn’t show any benefit for stroke prevention.1 And in the European ESC guidelines, aspirin is not recommended as first-line therapy for patients with a CHA2DS2-VASc score of 1.2
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- Olesen, JB et al. Risks of thromboembolism and bleeding with thromboporphylaxis in patients with atrial fibrillation: a net clinical benefit analysis using a ‘real world’ nationwide cohort study. Thromb Haemost 2011;106:739-749↵
- Camm, AJ et al. 2012 focused update of the ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation: an update of the 2010 ESC Guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation. Developed with the special contribution of the European Heart Rhythm Association. EUR Heart J 2012;33:2719-47↵