To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of tirofiban combined with aspirin in the treatment of elderly patients with progressive ischemic stroke (PIS).

A total of 116 patients with PIS admitted to Lu'an Hospital Affiliated to Anhui Medical University & the People's Hospital of Lu'an from February 2017 to August 2020 were selected as the research subjects, and they were randomly divided into either a control group or an observation group, with 58 cases in each group. All patients received supportive treatments such as anti-platelet aggregation, improving circulation, scavenging oxygen free radicals, and nourishing nerves. All patients were given aspirin orally, and patients in the observation group were additionally given tirofiban at the same time. After 2 weeks of continuous treatment, the clinical effects, the degree of neurological impairment, and laboratory indicators were compared between the two groups. All patients were followed for 90 days to compare the occurrence of adverse reactions between the two groups during the follow-up period.

After treatment, the total effective rate of the observation group was 89.66%, which was significantly higher than that of the control group (67.24%, P＜0.05); the score of National Institute of Health stroke scale (NIHSS) in both groups was reduced, and the NIHSS score of the observation group (5.41±1.62) was significantly better than that of the control group (8.86±1.79, P＜0.05); the improvement of neurological function was better in the observation group. After treatment, the plasma viscosity, platelet aggregation rate, and fibrinogen of the observation group were significantly lower than those of the control group [(1.24±0.32) mPa/s vs (1.68±0.36) mPa/s, P＜0.001; (32.04±3.38) % vs (48.64±3.64) %, P＜0.001; (2.26±0.48) g/L vs (3.32±0.52) g/L, P＜0.001]. Within 90 days of follow-up, only minor bleeding occurred in the two groups, and there was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions.

Tirofiban combined with aspirin can effectively improve the treatment effect and neurological function, and has high safety in the treatment of progressive ischemic stroke in the elderly.