***TASK***
the task is to simplify the input abstract of a biomedical literature

***INPUT***
the input is the abstract of a biomedical literature

***OUTPUT***
the output is the simplified abstract for the input abstract of a biomedical literature

***DOCUMENTATION***

***EXAMPLES***

Input: A total of 16,558 patients from four trials contributed to the analyses. The methodological quality was high in all four trials. The anticoagulants tested were unfractionated heparin (UFH) and low molecular-weight heparin. Aspirin was used as control in all trials. Overall, there was no evidence that anticoagulants were superior to aspirin in reducing 'death or dependency' at long-term follow-up (odds ratio (OR) 1.07, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.98 to 1.15). Compared with aspirin, anticoagulants were associated with a small but significant increase in the number of deaths at the end of follow-up (OR 1.10, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.29), equivalent to 20 more deaths (95% CI 0 to 30) per 1000 patients treated; a significant increased risk of symptomatic intracranial haemorrhage (OR 2.35, 95% CI 1.49 to 3.46); and a non-significant increased risk of 'any recurrent stroke' during treatment (OR 1.20, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.46). These neutral or adverse effects outweighed a small, but significant effect on symptomatic deep vein thrombosis (OR 1.20, 95% CI 0.07 to 0.58), equivalent to 10 fewer (95% CI 0 to 30) DVTs by 14 days per 1000 patients treated with anticoagulants instead of aspirin. Subgroup analysis could not identify any type, dose, or route of administration of anticoagulants associated with net benefit, or any benefit in patients with atrial fibrillation. Overall, the combination of UFH and aspirin did not appear to be associated with a net advantage over aspirin alone. A subgroup analysis showed that, compared with aspirin, the combination of low-dose UFH and aspirin was associated with a marginally significant reduced risk of 'any recurrent stroke' (OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.56 to 1.03) and a marginally significant reduced risk of death at 14 days (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.69 to 1.01), and with no clear adverse effect on death at end of follow-up (OR 0.98, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.12). Anticoagulants offered no net advantages over antiplatelet agents in acute ischaemic stroke. The combination of low-dose UFH and aspirin appeared in a subgroup analysis to be associated with net benefits compared with aspirin alone, and this merits further research.
Output:

This review aimed to test whether any anticoagulant regimen offers net advantages over antiplatelet agents, overall, or in specific categories of patients. There was no evidence that anticoagulants are superior to antiplatelet agents (in fact, anticoagulants caused a small increase in the number of deaths at long-term follow-up). However, the combination of low-dose anticoagulant and aspirin seemed to offer benefits over aspirin alone, and the combination should be investigated further.