Lack of evidence for increased risk of postoperative bleeding after cutaneous surgery in the head and neck in patients taking aspirin

Cutaneous surgery in the head and neck carries an intermediate risk of bleeding, so many surgeons stop anticoagulant treatment perioperatively despite the risk of cardiovascular events. We reviewed many procedures done in patients who were taking aspirin, and we did not find evidence of significantly increased postoperative bleeding compared with procedures in patients who were not taking aspirin (10/259=4% compared with 6/209=3%, p=0.6). Our results suggest that cutaneous surgery in the head and neck is safe for patients taking aspirin.