Comparison of fecal blood loss after use of aspirin and suprofen.

The effects of aspirin and suprofen on gastrointestinal blood loss were compared in a double-blind, crossover study of 20 healthy male subjects. Fecal blood loss was measured by 51Cr-labeled red cells. Subjects treated with aspirin (2,600 mg/day) experienced a mean fecal blood loss of 4.2 ml/day, compared with subjects treated with suprofen (800 mg/day) whose mean fecal blood loss was 1.8 ml/day. There was significantly greater (p less than 0.01) blood loss in the aspirin group than in the suprofen group. Mean fecal blood loss in the suprofen group did not differ appreciably from the fecal blood loss observed during the placebo period (0.4 ml/day).