Tranexamic acid, used to stop heavy bleeding after major surgery, could save thousands of accident victims each year, British scientists believe. Information on this subject is published by the Cochrane Library website.
Accident injuries are the second leading cause of death among people between the ages of 5 and 45. Annually, 3 million people die because of them. Mostly it has to do with uncontrolled bleeding.
Previous studies have shown that anti-haemorrhagic drugs (so-called antifibrinolytics), such as tranexamic acid, reduce bleeding in operated patients and reduce the need for blood transfusions. Therefore, they could also be effective for accident victims.
To find out, researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Royal Hospital in Leicester analyzed data collected in two studies conducted after 2004, which included a total of 20 patients (from different countries) with hemorrhage after a serious accident. They were given tranexamic acid.
It is an inexpensive drug that promotes blood clotting as it inhibits the dissolution of clots (fibrinolysis).
It found that tranexamic acid lowered the risk of death in heavily bleeding accident victims by 10 percent. compared to the group where it was not reported. When the analysis was limited to only one of the studies that included as many as 20 patients, the risk of dying due to bleeding decreased by 211%.
Importantly, the drug did not increase the risk of side effects, such as blood clots.
Tranexamic acid reduces the risk of fatal bleeding in traumatized patients and appears to have very few side effects. The drug could save the lives of both civilians and military, commented research leader Ian Roberts of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
The authors of the study estimate that thanks to the use of tranexamic acid, it will be possible to save up to 70 thousand people per year. people seriously injured.
Therefore, they recommend wider use of this drug in victims of accidents that bleed heavily. They also emphasize that in the future it is worth investigating the effectiveness of tranexamic acid in people who have only suffered brain injuries. (PAP)