Greenslopes specialists help to research
6 | GPH News
aspirin benefits
Greenslopes Private Hospital surgeons are probing the benefits of using aspirin to help
prevent blood clots after total knee and hip replacements, in a new national trial known
as the CRISTAL Study.
It is already common for patients to use aspirin after these
major procedures, but there has been little evidence to prove
its suitability over other anticoagulant medication.
Orthopaedic surgeon Dr Mark Dekkers said: “The main aim
of the study is to prove that aspirin is no worse than another
anticoagulant medication known as Clexane, which is more
expensive and is administered through an injection.”
The trial will involve more than 1000 patients of all ages who
have undergone either a hip or knee replacement. Half of
the group will be prescribed aspirin; the other half will be
administered Clexane over an 18-month period.
Both procedures require anticoagulants after surgery to help
prevent deep vein thrombosis and blood clots, which increase
the risk of pulmonary embolism.
Three Greenslopes Private Hospital orthopaedic surgeons -
Dr Mark Dekkers, Dr Phil Dalton and Dr Ross Kennedy - were
invited to take part in the national trial.
“There are a lot of protocols but there is not one protocol and
unfortunately with all the surgeons at Greenslopes we all do
something different at the moment, so what we want to do is
get that standardised,” Dr Dekkers said.
Patients are also required to start early mobility exercises after
each of the procedures, which will remain the same
during the trial.
In Australia, more than 100,000 total hip and knee
replacement procedures are performed each year; surgical
teams at Greenslopes Private Hospital perform between
800 to 1000.
“We are dealing with an aging population who are starting to
outlive their joints, because they are more active,”
Dr Dekkers said.
We are dealing with an aging
population who are starting to
outlive their joints, because they
are more active