Comparison between oral and intravenous application of tranexamic acid for total hip arthroplasty: a meta-analysis

Management of severe peri-operative bleeding: Guidelines from the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care: Second update 2022

BACKGROUND

Management of peri-operative bleeding is complex and involves multiple assessment tools and strategies to ensure optimal patient care with the goal of reducing morbidity and mortality. These updated guidelines from the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC) aim to provide an evidence-based set of recommendations for healthcare professionals to help ensure improved clinical management.

DESIGN

A systematic literature search from 2015 to 2021 of several electronic databases was performed without language restrictions. Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) was used to assess the methodological quality of the included studies and to formulate recommendations. A Delphi methodology was used to prepare a clinical practice guideline.

RESULTS

These searches identified 137 999 articles. All articles were assessed, and the existing 2017 guidelines were revised to incorporate new evidence. Sixteen recommendations derived from the systematic literature search, and four clinical guidances retained from previous ESAIC guidelines were formulated. Using the Delphi process on 253 sentences of guidance, strong consensus (>90% agreement) was achieved in 97% and consensus (75 to 90% agreement) in 3%.

DISCUSSION

Peri-operative bleeding management encompasses the patient's journey from the pre-operative state through the postoperative period. Along this journey, many features of the patient's pre-operative coagulation status, underlying comorbidities, general health and the procedures that they are undergoing need to be taken into account. Due to the many important aspects in peri-operative nontrauma bleeding management, guidance as to how best approach and treat each individual patient are key. Understanding which therapeutic approaches are most valuable at each timepoint can only enhance patient care, ensuring the best outcomes by reducing blood loss and, therefore, overall morbidity and mortality.

CONCLUSION

All healthcare professionals involved in the management of patients at risk for surgical bleeding should be aware of the current therapeutic options and approaches that are available to them. These guidelines aim to provide specific guidance for bleeding management in a variety of clinical situations.

Tranexamic acid versus aminocapróic acid in multiple doses via the oral route for the reduction of postoperative bleeding in total primary hip arthroplasty: a prospective, randomized, double-blind, controlled study

To compare the effects of oral ε-aminocaproic acid (EACA) as a hemostatic agent versus the use of oral tranexamic acid (TXA) administered in multiple doses pre and postsurgery in patients undergoing elective primary total hip arthroplasty (THA). We enrolled 102 patients that were randomly divided into two groups: received three oral doses of EACA (2000 mg per dose) or three oral doses of TXA (1300 mg per dose). The medication was given according to the following schedule: 2 h before surgery and 6 and 12 h after surgery. The variables analyzed to compare the effectiveness of the hemostatic agents were total blood loss, hidden blood loss, external blood loss, transfusion rate, intraoperative blood loss, decreases in hemoglobin and hematocrit values, surgical drainage output, visual analog scale, and surgical complications. There were no significant differences between any of the study variables for the group receiving oral TXA and the group receiving oral EACA (P > 0.05). Our study showed that the use of oral EACA was similar to its counterpart TXA regarding the evaluated parameters. TXA did not have superior blood conservation effects, safety profile, or differences in functional scales compared with EACA in THA. We consider the use of multiple oral doses of aminocaproic acid at the selected dose to be effective as a standard protocol to achieve less blood loss and a lower rate of transfusion and adverse events related to the medication in patients undergoing a THA.

Application of thromboelastography to evaluate the effect of different routes administration of tranexamic acid on coagulation function in total hip arthroplasty

Background

Tranexamic acid (TXA) is widely used to reduce blood loss and transfusion rates in total hip arthroplasty(THA). Thromboelastography, which can monitor coagulation changes from clotting to fibrinolysis dynamically. In this study, thromboelastography was used to assess the dynamic changes in the coagulation of patients who underwent THA with the administration of TXA.

Methods

This randomized controlled trial consisted of 207 consecutive patients who underwent primary total hip arthroplasty. Patients were randomized into three groups: topical-TXA group received a topical application of TXA, IV-TXA group received an intravenous injection of TXA, and control group. Thromboelastography was performed 1 day before surgery and first, fourth, seventh days after surgery. The primary outcomes were thromboelastography parameters, the rates of deep vein thrombosis(DVT), and pulmonary embolism(PE). Secondary outcomes included perioperative blood loss, transfusion rates, and other perioperative complications.

Results

The mean calculated total blood loss in the Topical-TXA group were 832.7 ± 279.84 ml and 834.8 ± 322.94 ml in the IV-TXA group, which were significantly reduced (p < 0.05) compared with control groups at 1093.3 ± 379.7 ml. There were no significant differences between topical-TXA and IV-TXA groups in total blood loss or transfusion rates. K and R have reached a nadir from preoperative levels to 4th day postoperatively and then began to increase.α angle and CI peaked from preoperative levels to the fourth day postoperatively and then began to decline.IV-TXA significantly (p < 0.05) promoted coagulation levels compared with topical-TXA and control groups in the early postoperative period. Almost no significant differences were observed between topical-TXA and control groups in thromboelastography parameters.No significant differences were observed in the incidence of thromboembolic complications and other perioperative complications.

Conclusions

The topical administration of TXA had the same hemostatic effect as intravenous injection tranexamic acid. Coagulation function peaked on 4th day postoperatively and then began to decline. IV-TXA was more enhanced coagulation functions compared with topical-TXA.