Antifibrinolytics and cardiac surgery: The past, the present, and the future.

Antifibrinolytics and cardiac surgery: The past, the present, and the future. Ann Card Anaesth. 2020 Apr-Jun;23(2):193-199 Authors: Aggarwal NK, Subramanian A Abstract Cardiac surgery is usually associated with significant blood loss, which often necessitates blood transfusion. In order to decrease the risks associated with the latter, pharmacological as well as nonpharmacological strategies have been used to reduce blood loss. Among the pharmacological approaches, antifibrinolytic drugs are the mainstay. Aprotinin, which was the first ubiquitously used drug, fell into disrepute only to re-emerge after much debate. The decline of aprotinin paved the way for the lysine analogs. However, we must be aware with the side effects of these drugs as well as the dose modification required in special situations. Nonsaccharide glycosaminoglycans have been under investigation to overcome the drawbacks of the lysine analogs. It remains to be seen whether these drugs can replace the traditional antifibrinolytics. PMID: 32275035 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Annals of Cardiac Anaesthesia - Category: Anesthesiology Authors: Tags: Ann Card Anaesth Source Type: research