Cost-benefit analysis of tranexamic acid and blood transfusion in elective lumbar spine surgery for degenerative pathologies

OBJECTIVEBlood transfusions are given to approximately one-fifth of patients undergoing elective lumbar spine surgery, and previous studies have shown that transfusions are accompanied by increased complications and additional costs. One method for decreasing transfusions is administration of tranexamic acid (TXA). The authors sought to evaluate whether the cost of TXA is offset by the decrease in blood utilization in lumbar spine surgery patients.METHODSThe authors retrospectively reviewed patients who underwent elective lumbar or thoracolumbar surgery for degenerative conditions at a tertiary care center between 2016 and 2018. Patients who received intraoperative TXA (TXA patients) were matched with patients who did not receive TXA (non-TXA patients) by age, sex, BMI, ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) physical status class, and surgical invasiveness score. Primary endpoints were intraoperative blood loss, number of packed red blood cell (PRBC) units transfused, and total hemostasis costs, defined as the sum of TXA costs and blood transfusion costs throughout the hospital stay. A subanalysis was then performed by substratifying both cohorts into short-length (1–4 levels) and long-length (5–8 levels) spinal constructs.RESULTSOf the 1353 patients who met inclusion criteria, 68 TXA patients were matched to 68 non-TXA patients. Patients in the TXA group had significantly decreased mean intraoperative blood loss (1039 vs 1437 mL, p = 0.01). There were no differences between the patient groups in the total costs of blood transfusion and TXA (p = 0.5). When the 2 patient groups were substratified by length of construct, the long-length construct group showed a significant net cost savings of $328.69 per patient in the TXA group (p = 0.027). This result was attributable to the finding that patients undergoing long-length construct surgeries who were given TXA received a lower amount of PRBC units throughout their hospital stay (2.4 vs 4.0, p = 0.007).CONCLUSIONSTXA use was associated with decreased intraoperative blood loss and significant reductions in total hemostasis costs for patients undergoing surgery on more than 4 levels. Furthermore, the use of TXA in patients who received short constructs led to no additional net costs. With the increasing emphasis put on value-based care interventions, use of TXA may represent one mechanism for decreasing total care costs, particularly in the cases of larger spine constructs.

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Double-blind, randomized controlled trial of tranexamic acid in minor lumbar spine surgery: no effect on operative time, intraoperative blood loss, or complications

Journal of Neurosurgery Spine ◽

10.3171/2019.1.spine1814 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 31 (2) ◽

pp. 194-200 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Signe Elmose ◽

Mikkel Ø. Andersen ◽

Else Bay Andresen ◽

Leah Yacat Carreon

Keyword(s):

Placebo Group ◽

Lumbar Spine ◽

Blood Loss ◽

Tranexamic Acid ◽

Spine Surgery ◽

Operative Time ◽

Decompressive Surgery ◽

Lumbar Spine Surgery ◽

Intraoperative Blood Loss ◽

Double Blind

OBJECTIVEThe purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of tranexamic acid (TXA) compared to placebo in low-risk adult patients undergoing elective minor lumbar spine surgery—specifically with respect to operative time, estimated blood loss, and complications. Studies have shown that TXA reduces blood loss during major spine surgery. There have been no previous studies on the effect of TXA in minor lumbar spine surgery in which these variables have been evaluated.METHODSThe authors enrolled patients with ASA grades 1 to 2 scheduled to undergo lumbar decompressive surgery at Middelfart Hospital into a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel-group study. Patients with thromboembolic disease, coagulopathy, hypersensitivity to TXA, or a history of convulsion were excluded. Patients were randomly assigned, in blocks of 10, to one of 2 groups, TXA or placebo. Anticoagulation therapy was discontinued 2–7 days preoperatively. Prior to the incision, patients received either a bolus of TXA (10 mg/kg) or an equivalent volume of saline solution (placebo). Independent t-tests were used to compare differences between the 2 groups, with statistical significance set at p < 0.05.RESULTSOf the 250 patients enrolled, 17 patients were excluded, leaving 233 cases for analysis (117 in the TXA group and 116 in the placebo group). The demographics of the 2 groups were similar, except for a higher proportion of women in the TXA group (TXA 50% vs placebo 32%, p = 0.017). There was no significant between-groups difference in operative time (49.53 ± 18.26 vs 54.74 ± 24.49 minutes for TXA and placebo, respectively; p = 0.108) or intraoperative blood loss (55.87 ± 48.48 vs 69.14 ± 83.47 ml for TXA and placebo, respectively; p = 0.702). Postoperative blood loss measured from drain output was 62% significantly lower in the TXA group (13.03 ± 21.82 ml) than in the placebo group (34.61 ± 44.38 ml) (p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in number of dural lesions or postoperative spinal epidural hematomas, and there were no thromboembolic events.CONCLUSIONSTranexamic acid did not have a statistically significant effect on operative time, intraoperative blood loss, or complications. This study gives no evidence to support the routine use of TXA during minor lumbar decompressive surgery.Clinical trial registration no.: NCT03714360 (clinicaltrials.gov)

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Efficacy of tranexamic acid in reducing blood loss in posterior lumbar spine surgery for degenerative spinal stenosis with instability: a retrospective case control study

BMC Surgery ◽

10.1186/1471-2482-11-29 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Stefan Endres ◽

Martin Heinz ◽

Axel Wilke

Keyword(s):

Lumbar Spine ◽

Blood Loss ◽

Tranexamic Acid ◽

Spinal Stenosis ◽

Spine Surgery ◽

Case Control Study ◽

Case Control ◽

Lumbar Spine Surgery ◽

Retrospective Case ◽

Control Study

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Hemostatic Agent Use and Intraoperative Blood Loss in Lumbar Spine Surgery

Case Medical Research ◽

10.31525/ct1-nct04058665 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Keyword(s):

Lumbar Spine ◽

Blood Loss ◽

Spine Surgery ◽

Hemostatic Agent ◽

Lumbar Spine Surgery ◽

Intraoperative Blood Loss

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176 Efficiency of Spinal Anesthesia in Comparison to General Anesthesia in Lumbar Spine Surgery: A Retrospective Analysis of 544 Patients

Neurosurgery ◽

10.1093/neuros/nyx417.176 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 64 (CN_suppl_1) ◽

pp. 245-246

Author(s):

John Thomas Pierce ◽

Prateek Agarwal ◽

Paul J Marcotte ◽

William Charles Welch

Keyword(s):

Lumbar Spine ◽

Blood Loss ◽

Hospital Stay ◽

General Anesthesia ◽

Spinal Anesthesia ◽

Spine Surgery ◽

Operative Time ◽

Length Of Hospital Stay ◽

Lumbar Spine Surgery ◽

Anesthesia Time

Abstract INTRODUCTION Lumbar spine surgery can be successfully performed using various anesthetic techniques. Previous studies have shown varying results in selected outcomes when directly comparing spinal anesthesia (SA) to general anesthesia (GA) in lumbar surgery. We sought to elucidate the more expedient anesthetic technique. METHODS Following IRB approval, a retrospective review of patients undergoing elective lumbar decompression surgery using GA or SA was performed. Demographic data known to influence perioperative morbidity was collected as well as safety and efficiency parameters. After controlling for patient and procedure characteristics, simple linear and multivariate regression analyses were performed to identify differences in operative blood loss, operative time, time from entering the OR until incision, time from bandage placement to exiting the OR, total anesthesia time, time in the post-anesthesia care unit (PACU), and length of hospital stay. RESULTS >544 consecutive lumbar laminectomy and discectomy surgeries were identified with 183 undergoing GA and 361 undergoing SA. The following times were all shorter for patients receiving SA than GA: operative time (97.4 vs. 151.8 min., P < 0.001), total anesthesia time (145.6 vs. 217.5 min., P < 0.001), time from entering the OR until incision (38.3 vs. 46.8 min., respectively, P < 0.001), time from bandage placement until exiting the OR (10.2 vs. 17.2 min., P < 0.001), and length of hospital stay (1.5 vs. 3.1 days, P < 0.001). The mean PACU length of stay was longer in the SA group than the GA group (178.0 vs. 116.5 min., P < 0.001). Estimated blood loss was less in the SA group than the GA group (62.1 vs. 176.3 mL, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Spinal anesthesia may be the more expedient method of anesthesia in lumbar spinal surgery for all perioperative time points except for time in the PACU.

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Is There a Role for Preoperative Local Infiltration of Tranexamic Acid in Elective Spine Surgery? A Prospective Randomized Controlled Trial Analyzing the Efficacy of Intravenous, Local Infiltration, and Topical Administration of Tranexamic Acid

Global Spine Journal ◽

10.1177/2192568219888446 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 21-27 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Viswanadha Arun-Kumar ◽

J. Naresh-Babu

Keyword(s):

Blood Transfusion ◽

Blood Loss ◽

Tranexamic Acid ◽

Spine Surgery ◽

Postoperative Blood Loss ◽

Control Group ◽

Intraoperative Blood Loss ◽

Local Infiltration ◽

Safety And Efficacy ◽

Instrumented Spine Surgery

Study Design: Randomized control trial. Objective: The purpose of the study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of tranexamic acid in reducing blood loss when administered through various routes in instrumented spine surgeries. Methods: A total of 104 patients undergoing instrumented spine surgery were randomly assigned to 4 groups (n = 26 in each group). Groups included (1) ivTXA—intravenous administration of tranexamic acid (TXA) 1 hour prior to surgery, (2) loTXA—local infiltration of TXA bilaterally into the paraspinal musculature prior to incision, (3) tTXA—topical application of TXA just before wound closure, and (4) control group. Outcome measures included intraoperative blood loss, postoperative blood loss, need for blood transfusion, length of hospital stay, and hematological parameters. Results: All the 3 different modes of TXA administration were found to be effective in reducing blood loss in the treated groups compared with the control group. Intraoperative blood loss was significantly reduced in ivTXA (223.6 ± 40.1 mL, P < .0001) and loTXA (256.07 ± 119 mL, P = .0039) groups when compared with controls (344 ± 88.5 mL).The postoperative blood loss was least in tTXA followed by ivTXA, loTXA, and controls. There was 67% reduction in need for blood transfusion in tTXA group, 55.5% reduction in ivTXA group, and 33% reduction in loTXA group when compared with the control group. Conclusion: In instrumented spine surgery, ivTXA and loTXA were found to be equally effective in reducing the intraoperative blood loss. The tTXA has better postoperative blood conserving effects. This is the first study to detail about safety and efficacy on local infiltration of TXA in spine surgery, which is an effective and safe method for reducing intraoperative blood loss.

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Efficacy and Safety of Tranexamic Acid in Bimaxillary Orthognathic Surgery

Plastic Surgery ◽

10.1177/2292550320925897 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 28 (2) ◽

pp. 94-104

Author(s):

Liang Sun ◽

Rui Guo ◽

Yi Feng

Keyword(s):

Blood Transfusion ◽

Blood Loss ◽

Tranexamic Acid ◽

Orthognathic Surgery ◽

Operation Time ◽

Controlled Trials ◽

Allogenic Blood Transfusion ◽

Intraoperative Blood Loss ◽

Irrigation Fluid ◽

Allogenic Blood

Background: Tranexamic acid (TXA) has been widely used during craniofacial and orthognathic surgery (OS). However, results of the literature are inconsistent due to specific type of surgery and a small sample of studies. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the role of TXA in bimaxillary OS. Methods: We performed a comprehensive literature search of PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and EMBASE to identify randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared effect of TXA on bimaxillary OS with placebo. Outcomes of interests included intraoperative blood loss, allogenic transfusion, operation time, and volume of irrigation fluid. Random effects models were chosen considering that heterogeneity between studies was anticipated, and I 2 statistics were used to test for the presence of heterogeneity. Results: Totally 6 RCTs were identified. Tranexamic acid resulted in significantly reduced intraoperative blood loss (weighted mean difference [WMD] = −264.82 mL; 95% CI: −380.60 to −149.04 mL) and decreased amounts of irrigation fluid (WMD = −229.23 mL; 95% CI: −399.63 to −58.83 mL). However, TXA had no remarkable impact on risk of allogenic blood transfusion (pooled risk ratio = 0.50; 95% CI: 0.20-1.23), operation time (WMD = −8.71 min; 95% CI: −20.98 to 3.57 min), and length of hospital stay (WMD = −0.24 day; 95% CI: −0.62 to 0.14 day). No TXA-associated severe adverse reactions or complications were observed. Conclusions: Currently available meta-analysis reveals that TXA is effective in decreasing intraoperative blood loss; however, it does not reduce the risk of allogenic blood transfusion in bimaxillary OS.

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