THURSDAY, March 24 (HealthDay News) -- Early administration of tranexamic acid reduces mortality due to bleeding in trauma patients; given more than three hours after injury, however, the agent could raise the risk of death, according to research published online March 24 in The Lancet.
Ian Roberts, of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and fellow CRASH-2 collaborators assessed outcomes in 20,211 adult trauma patients with or at risk for significant bleeding who were randomized to either tranexamic acid or placebo within eight hours of injury.
The researchers found that those who received tranexamic acid within an hour of injury had a significantly reduced risk of dying due to bleeding (relative risk [RR], 0.68); treatment between one and three hours also lowered the risk of bleeding-related death (RR, 0.79). After three hours, however, treatment with tranexamic acid seemed to raise the risk of bleeding-related mortality (RR, 1.44).
"Tranexamic acid should be given as early as possible to bleeding trauma patients. For trauma patients admitted late after injury, tranexamic acid is less effective and could be harmful," the authors write.
The research was funded in part by Pfizer.
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