Tranexamic acid minimized perioperative bleeding in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery

Dr. Menon Clinical question: Does tranexamic acid reduce the incidence of life-threatening perioperative bleeding in patients undergoing noncardiac surgery without increasing the risk of major cardiovascular adverse events? Background: Large surgical trials have shown that tranexamic acid reduces the incidence and severity of perioperative bleeding in patients undergoing a cesarean section or cardiac surgery. Other, smaller trials have suggested similar findings with tranexamic acid in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery as well. But, there are limited data on the use of tranexamic acid in patients undergoing non-orthopedic, noncardiac surgeries. And, there are no large trials to show whether the use of tranexamic acid would increase the risk of thrombotic events or major cardiovascular complications after noncardiac surgery.  Study design: Randomized controlled trial  Setting: 114 hospitals in 22 countries between June 2018 and July 2021 Synopsis: 9,535 patients with a mean age of 69.4 years (43.9% women). Patients were primarily from Europe (39.8%), North America (31.1%), and the Asia-Pacific region (27.0%). Before and after surgery, 4,757 patients were randomly assigned to receive tranexamic acid (1 gram per dose) and 4,778 patients were randomly assigned to receive a placebo. Most patients underwent non-orthopedic, noncardiac surgery (77%). At 30 days, patients who received tranexamic acid before and after noncardiac surgery had significantly less life-threatening b...
Source: The Hospitalist - Category: Hospital Management Authors: Tags: Critical Care In the Literature Perioperative Medicine Source Type: research