Anti‐inflammatory medications for preventing major heart events and strokes following ischaemic stroke (stroke due to a clot) or mini‐stroke

Review question
Do anti‐inflammatory medications have a role in preventing future serious heart conditions or stroke in people who have previously had a stroke or a transient ischaemic attack (TIA, or ‘mini‐stroke’) as the result of a blood clot?

Background
Anti‐inflammatory medications are used to reduce inflammation in several inflammatory conditions. Inflammation may be involved in the occurrence of stroke, mainly through the development of fatty deposits in the vessel (artery). Currently, a variety of medications are available to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes or mini‐strokes, but 1 in 20 people will have a further stroke or heart attack.

Search date
Searching was complete on 29 May 2019.

Study characteristics
Eligible studies could involve any medication whose main use was anti‐inflammatory in any setting in adult patients who had a previous stroke or TIA caused by a clot.

Key results
Although we conducted a thorough search of the medical literature for randomised controlled trials assessing anti‐inflammatory medications versus no anti‐inflammatory medications in people with previous stroke or TIA due to a blood clot, we were unable to identify any studies that had been conducted to explore this topic. Therefore, we cannot say whether anti‐inflammatory medications alter heart and stroke outcomes following stroke due to a clot, or what the harms and benefits of this treatment might be. Trials are needed to compare the use of anti‐inflammatory medications in combination with usual treatment versus usual treatment alone.

Quality of the evidence
No evidence and no studies were available.