gastrointestinal side-effects
Last reviewed 01/2018
There are upper and lower gastrointestinal side-effects of aspirin:
Upper gastrointestinal side effects include:
- heartburn
- stomach pain
- nausea
The incidence of these side-effects is increased by:
- increasing dose of aspirin
- plain aspirin rather than enteric coated aspirin
- a high frequency of doses e.g. > 1 dose per day
The risk of a serious gastrointestinal bleed requiring hospitalisation or causing death is higher in those taking aspirin regularly.
A notable lower gastrointestinal side-effect is constipation:
- there is a 3-4 fold increase in constipation (up to 7% in patients receiving 1.2 g of aspirin per day)
- there is no clear dose-dependency