It's commonly advised for patients to stop taking fish oil supplements before surgery due to bleeding risks. Despite numerous studies suggesting otherwise, this recommendation persists. Finally, the American Heart Association has published a definitive systematic review and meta-analysis on the potential bleeding risk associated with Omega-3 PUFAs. This comprehensive review includes data from 11 randomized clinical trials and a total of 120,643 patients. The results are now in, and the topic can finally be put to rest. 

Key Findings:

• No Increased Overall Bleeding Risk: Omega-3 PUFAs did not increase the risk of overall bleeding events compared to control groups.
• Intracranial and Hemorrhagic Stroke Risks: The incidence of hemorrhagic stroke and intracranial bleeding was similar between Omega-3 PUFA users and control groups.
• High-dose EPA Risk: High-dose EPA in the form of icosapent ethyl has been linked to a 0.6% absolute increase in bleeding risk. However, this type of fish oil is only available via prescription from a doctor. To put that into perspective, how many individuals do you know who take Pharma-EPA-only fish oil at the recommended 4 grams per day? Not many, if any. Moreover, factors like smoking, diabetes, being female, or age present a far greater bleeding risk.

Finally, with these findings, the misconception about Omega-3s and bleeding risk can be laid to rest.

Read the paper here: https://www.ahajournals.org/toc/jaha/13/10