Postoperative administration of tranexamic acid as approach to reduce blood loss after open-heart surgery

BACKGROUND: Tranexamic acid (TXA) reduces perioperative bleeding among patients undergoing heart surgery. It is uncertain whether its postoperative administration, after prior administration before cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), has an additional benefit. OBJECTIVE: Our study aimed to evaluate whether the postoperative administration of TXA reduces the blood loss after heart surgery. METHODS: In a retrospective cohort study at the University Heart Center Dresden, patients who underwent on-pump open-heart surgery and received 1 g TXA before CPB were included. Patients with postoperative administration of 1 g TXA were compared to patients without. Primary endpoint was the postoperative blood loss within 24 hours. RESULTS: Among 2,179 patients undergoing heart surgery between 1 July 2013 and 31 October 2014, 92 (4.2%) received TXA postoperatively. After matching, 71 patients with postoperative administration of TXA were compared to 71 without (n = 142). Postoperative administration of TXA did not result in decreased blood loss (MD 146.7 mL; p = 0.064). There was no evidence of an increased risk for thromboembolic complications. CONCLUSIONS: The postoperative administration of TXA did not reduce blood loss. The use of TXA was shown to be safe in terms of thromboembolic events and hospital mortality. Unless there is no clear evidence, the postoperative administration of TXA should be restricted to patients with massive blood loss and signs of hyperfibrinolysis only.

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SPECIFICITY OF USING TRANEXAMIC ACID IN PATIENTS WITH CARDIAC SURGERY

Novosti Khirurgii ◽

10.18484/2305-0047.2021.5.590 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 29 (5) ◽

pp. 590-597

Author(s):

K.V. Bodyakov ◽

◽

A.V. Marochkov ◽

A.S. Kylik ◽

V.A. Dudko ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Cardiac Surgery ◽

Blood Loss ◽

Tranexamic Acid ◽

Heart Surgery ◽

Open Heart Surgery ◽

Balance Method ◽

Postoperative Blood Loss ◽

Open Heart ◽

Circulating Blood Volume ◽

Perioperative Blood Loss

Objective. To evaluate the efficacy of tranexamic acid (TA) in cardiac surgery patients undergoing the open-heart surgery under conditions of artificial blood circulation (ABC) by determining the volume of perioperative blood loss using the hemoglobin balance method. Methods. A pilot non-randomized prospective clinical trial was conducted. To determine the effectiveness of TA use, 2 groups of patients were formed: the 1<sup>st</sup> group, without TA application (n=40), the 2<sup>nd</sup> group - with TA application intraoperatively (n=40). In group 2, prior to sternotomy, intravenous bolus injection of TA (1000 mg (20 ml of 5% solution)) was performed and further titration of TA through a syringe dispenser was continued at a rate of 4 ml/hour (200 mg/hour) until the end of the operation.The volume of intraoperative blood-loss was assessed by the hemoglobin balance method. A special protocol was developed to control the volume of postoperative blood loss. Results. The volume of circulating blood (VCB) calculated by Nadler’s formula for the first group was 5433.2 (5008.5; 5768.2) ml, for the second - 5214.0 (4944.1; 5546.8) ml. In the first group of patients who did not receive TA during open- heart surgery, the volume of blood loss was 1460.6 (1196.8; 1725.8) ml or 26.9 % of the average circulating blood volume (CBV), and in the second group of patients who received TA intraoperatively - 1090.7 (882.3; 1468.6) ml or 20.9% of the CBV (p<0,001). Conclusion. The application of TA in cardiac surgery patients during open-heart surgery with ABC according to the developed algorithm (1000 mg/bolus, titration during surgery-200 mg/h) for the purpose of blood saving the volume of blood-loss was reduced by 25.3% compared to the control group. What this paper adds Algorithm for the use of tranexamic acid to reduce perioperative blood loss in cardiac surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) during open-heart surgery has been developed. This algorithm included intravenous tranexamic acid injection (1,000 mg.) followed by titration during the operation - 200 mg/h). The use of this algorithm in cardiac surgical procedures allows reducing the volume of blood loss by 25.3%.

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