Taking common pain-relieving drugs (so-called NSAIDs) while taking contraceptives can increase the risk of incurring an episode of venous thromboembolism, i.e. the formation of clots in the veins which can detach and also reach the lungs. However, this only applies to contraceptives that combine estrogens and progestogens and not to those containing only the progestogen (for example, the so-called mini-pill). These are the results of a study coordinated by the University of Copenhagen, which also involved the Regional Pharmacovigilance Center of Campania, published in the British Medical Journal.
It is already known that both non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and contraceptives are individually associated with an increased risk of thromboembolism. However, there is not enough information on their combined use. The research is based on data from over 2 million Danish women and cross-referenced information on hospitalizations with those relating to the prescriptions of contraceptives and anti-inflammatories, such as ibuprofen, diclofenac, naproxen.
The data confirmed that each drug category, taken alone, has an impact on the risk of thromboembolism.
However, the chances of thrombus formation grow even more when NSAIDs are taken by those taking contraceptives. In this case, if contraceptives are those at the highest risk, the probability of hospitalization grows up to 44.8 times compared to those who do not take either drug, resulting in an increase of 23 hospitalizations for every 100,000 women.
However, the researchers point out that the absolute risk remains very low. However, considering the high frequency of use of both drug classes, it is not negligible.
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