When people are scheduled for surgery, as a precautionary procedure they are usually told to stop taking certain selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) such as aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. This is due to the complications the drugs can cause such as excessive bleeding during the operation.

For some time now there has been speculation as to whether antidepressants should fall into that category. According to Time Magazine a study done by the University of California, San Francisco took a closer look at SSRI use before surgery and the rate of adverse events.

Researchers observed the statistics of a group of 530,416 patients over age 18 who had operations between January 2006 through December 2008 at 375 different U.S. hospitals.

At the time of their surgery, about 14 percent of the group was taking an SSRI antidepressant, such as Zoloft, Lexapro or Prozac.

According to Time, those taking an SSRI were 22 percent more likely to require readmission to the hospital within 30 days of being discharged after their operation.

20 percent were more likely to have died while still hospitalized and 9 percent were more likely to have had bleeding problems compared to those who were not taking an SSRI at the time.

The analysis of reports ranged from bleeding, transfusions, and irregular heart functions during surgery. Analysis also reported on how long the patients stayed in the hospital.

Previous studies suggested that the connection can be plausible since SSRIs prevent nerve cells in the brain from reabsorbing the hormone serotonin "and serotonin can interfere with the function of platelets that are critical for helping blood to clot properly."

The study was not designed to determine the best period of time that patients should stop their medications to avoid complications, however the results illuminated the necessity of more research to investigate the link.

Some hospitals now recommend that patients using antidepressants should stop taking them for about two weeks or more prior to their scheduled surgery.