News Release

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are associated with increased risk of miscarriage in pregnant women

Peer-Reviewed Publication

BMJ

Risk of adverse birth outcome and miscarriage in pregnant users of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: population based observational study and case-control study

Taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs during pregnancy does not seem to increase the risk of adverse birth outcome (congenital abnormality, low birth weight, or preterm birth) but is associated with increased risk of miscarriage, according to a study in this week's BMJ.

Researchers in Denmark investigated 1,462 pregnant women who had taken up prescriptions for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs during the period 30 days before conception to birth. They also compared 4,268 women who had miscarriages, of whom 63 had taken non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, with 29,750 women who had live births.

They found no increased risk of adverse birth outcome in women who took up prescriptions for non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, but there was a strong positive association with miscarriage. However, no firm conclusions as to whether this association is causal or due to other confounding factors could be drawn from the data, add the authors.

Knowledge on the safety of taking non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs while pregnant is limited, say the authors. Our observation of an increased risk of miscarriage in women exposed to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs is new and needs to be confirmed, conclude the authors.

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Contact:

Gunnar Lauge Nielsen, Consultant, Department of Medicine, Odder Hospital, Odder, Denmark Email: uxgln@aas.nja.dk


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