A Halifax-based, cross-Canada study proves Aspirin is as effective as rivaroxaban in preventing blood clots after hip and knee replacement surgery.

The findings, recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, mean cost savings for patients and an international change in the use of oral anticoagulants to prevent blood clots after these surgeries.

“This will have an impact,” says study lead Dr. David Anderson, dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Dalhousie and a hematologist with the Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA). “Surgeons will be very comfortable with this strategy.”

Blood clots are a known risk after hip and knee surgery and can lead to fatal pulmonary embolism, says Dr. Michael Dunbar, the Dalhousie-NSHA orthopedic surgeon who recruited a team of orthopedic investigators across Canada for the study.

Read more on Dal News.