Faecal Blood Loss Associated with Aspirin and Pentoxifylline, Given Alone and in Combination

Abstract

36 consenting, healthy adult Caucasian males participated in a double-blind, randomised, Latin square, crossover study, with incomplete block design, to investigate the volume of faecal blood loss, measured over 3 days, after 2 weeks of treatment with aspirin ( 1300 mg/day), pentoxifylline (1200 mg/day) and a combination of the 2 regimens. Placebo control was used. Faecal blood loss was measured by using 51Cr-labelled erythrocytes. The mean faecal blood loss over 3 days, after 2 weeks of medication with aspirin, was 19.6ml. The corresponding mean faecal blood loss over 3 days was 2.64ml in placebo-treated subjects, 2.42ml in subjects receiving placebo + pentoxifylline, and 13.4ml in subjects receiving aspirin + pentoxifylline. Aspirin was associated with substantial faecal blood loss. Pentoxifylline did not elicit more blood loss than placebo and the addition of pentoxifylline to aspirin did not aggravate the blood loss caused by aspirin alone.