Search

Abstract Background Tranexamic acid (TXA) is a widely employed intervention in orthopedic surgeries to minimize blood loss and the need for postoperative transfusions. This study focuses on assessing the efficacy and safety of TXA specifically in undernourished older adults undergoing hip fracture procedures. Methods A total of 216 patients were classified into two groups based on the Geriatric Nutritional Risk Index: undernourished and normal. In total, 82 patients received intravenous TXA at a dosage of 15 mg/kg before incision, with an additional 1 g administered intravenously over a 3-hour period postoperatively. Postoperative hemoglobin (Hb) drop, blood transfusion rate, and the incidence of deep venous thrombosis (DVT) were assessed in each group according to the presence or absence of TXA. Additionally, demographic factors including age, sex, body mass index, and serum albumin were investigated. Results 51.9% patients were identified as undernourished, experiencing progressive anemia (Hb: 10.9 ± 1.5 g/dL) and hypoalbuminemia (serum albumin: 31.9 ± 8 g/L). In comparison with the normal group, undernourished individuals were more likely to sustain femoral neck fractures (undernutrition vs. normal: 56.2 vs. 42.3%) and less likely to incur trochanteric fractures (undernutrition vs. normal: 43.8 vs. 57.7%) (P = 0.043). TXA administration significantly reduced the transfusion rate (P = 0.014) and Hb drop (P = 0.001) in the normal nutritional group, while its impact on the undernourished group remained less pronounced. There was no significant association between TXA administration and the rate of DVT complications, irrespective of the nutritional status. Conclusions Undernutrition not only diminishes muscle strength and gait function, leading to various types of hip fractures, but it may also hinder the efficacy of TXA in reducing blood transfusion rates and blood loss.

Laparoscopic liver resection has become a standard practice in many surgical wards in elective liver surgery, due to its positive impact on reducing hospital stay and postoperative complications, including lower blood loss and transfusion rate. However, achieving proper hemostasis in liver surgery, due to its vast blood supply, still remains a main concern to surgeons. Therefore, numerous techniques were and are still being developed to further reduce blood loss and transfusion rate. The aim of this literature review was to summarize the best available methods for achieving the minimal blood loss and transfusion rate in laparoscopic liver surgery, according to the newest data.

Background: Blood transfusion is an important part of patient management in obstetrics and gynaecology. There is a need to periodically assess blood transfusion practices in order to identify areas for improvement. Objectives: This study aimed to determine the rate of blood transfusion, indications, local use pattern, and variability of blood type transfused. Patients, Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study over six months was conducted at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital. Obstetric patients in the peripartum period and gynaecological admissions who underwent blood transfusion were included. The patients' characteristics, blood type, pretransfusion packed cell volume (PCV), indication for transfusion, blood product used, number of pints, and donor group were recorded. Analysis was performed using SPSS version 23, and statistical significance was set at P < 0.05. Results: Overall, 84 out of 1000 patients were transfused, giving a rate of 8.4%, 7.4% in obstetric patients, and 13% in gynaecological patients. Haemorrhage was the main reason for transfusions in obstetrics 40 (65.6%), made up of postpartum haemorrhage 27 (44.3%) and antepartum haemorrhage 13 (21.3%), while antepartum anaemia was 17 (27.9%). In gynaecology, chronic anaemia was the main reason for transfusions 10 (43.5%), while acute haemorrhage was 7 (30.4%). Blood components used were whole blood 66.7% (56/84) and sedimented blood 33.3% (28/84) only. About a quarter of the patients who received blood transfusion, had a pretransfusion PCV of 25% or more (20/84) and received only one pint of blood (21/84). Conclusion: The rate of blood transfusion was relatively high, with gynaecology rates higher than obstetric. The indication for blood transfusion in obstetrics was mainly haemorrhage, while in gynaecology, it was chronic anaemia.

Aryan Haratian, Tara Shelby, Laith K Hasan, Ioanna K Bolia, Alexander E Weber, Frank A Petrigliano USC Epstein Family Center for Sports Medicine at Keck Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA, USACorrespondence: Frank A PetriglianoUSC Epstein Family Center for Sports Medicine at Keck Medicine of USC, Los Angeles, CA, USATel +1 323 442-5822Email Frank.Petrigliano@med.usc.eduAbstract: Tranexamic acid (TXA) is a lysine analog that exhibits an anti-fibrinolytic effect by directly preventing the activation of plasminogen as well as inhibiting activated plasmin from degrading fibrin clots, thereby promoting hemostasis and reducing the duration and quantity of blood loss. The aims of this study were to summarize the indications, routes of administration, safety, and clinical outcomes of TXA use throughout the different subspecialities in orthopedic surgery. Given that orthopedic procedures such as TKA, THA, fracture fixation, and various spine surgeries involve significant intraoperative blood loss, TXA is indicated in providing effective perioperative hemostasis. Additionally, use of TXA in orthopedic trauma has been indicated as a measure to reduce blood loss especially in a group with potential for hemodynamic compromise. TXA has been implicated in reducing the risk of blood transfusions in orthopedic trauma, joint surgery, and spine surgery, although this effect is not seen as prominently in sports medicine procedures. There remains disagreement in literature as to whether TXA via any route of administration can improve other clinically significant outcomes such as hospital length of stay and total operative time. Procedures that rely extensively on clarity on visualization of the surgical field such as knee and shoulder arthroscopies can greatly benefit from the use of TXA, thereby leading to less intraoperative bleeding, with better visual clarity of the surgical field. While most studies agree thrombosis due to TXA is unlikely, new research in cells and animal models are evaluating whether TXA can negatively impact other aspects of musculoskeletal physiology, however with conflicting results thus far. As of now, TXA remains a safe and effective means of promoting hemostasis and reducing intraoperative blood loss in orthopedic surgery.Keywords: tranexamic acid, TXA, orthopaedic surgery, operative blood loss, transfusion rate, outcomes

Senohadi Boentoro, Irfan Wahyudi, Chaidir A Mochtar, Agus Rizal AH Hamid Department of Urology, Faculty of Medicine, Indonesia University, Jakarta, IndonesiaCorrespondence: Irfan Wahyudi Email irf.wahyudi2011@gmail.comIntroduction: Laparoscopic surgery has been acknowledged to reduce the morbidity rate thus improving patient safety. During the LLDN, the most frequent complication is renal vessels injuries, which often requires a blood transfusion. Besides the need for a blood transfusion, major bleeding caused by renal vessels injuries requires open conversion and repair. Thus, this study would like to descript and analyze the need for blood transfusion in laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy surgery in our center.Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study in the Department of Urology at Cipto Mangunkusumo National Hospital. The records of all kidney transplantation donor patients who underwent LLDN procedures carried out at our institution from November 2011 to October 2017 were reviewed. Data including donor age, preoperative hemoglobin level, postoperative hemoglobin level, intraoperative bleeding, number of artery(ies), number of vein(s), donor side, conversion to open surgery, surgery duration, and donor BMI were collected and analyzed. These data were further correlated with the transfusion rate.Results: There were 500 patients underwent laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy procedure at our institution. All of the patients had LLDN with a transperitoneal approach. The difference in blood transfusion rate proportion between male patients with 0.9% compared to 0.6% in female patients was not significant (p=0.782). There is no significant difference in blood transfusion rate proportion regarding renal side (p=0.494), number of artery (p=0.362), age (p=0.978), BMI (p=0.569), and preoperative hemoglobin (p=0.766). Median estimated blood loss in patients who received intraoperative blood transfusion was significantly much greater than in patients who did not receive a blood transfusion (p< 0.001).Conclusion: Based on this study, we suggest that in our institution, preoperative blood products are not necessarily needed. The surgeon’s learning curve and technique play a significant role in preventing intraoperative complications and blood loss.Keywords: transfusion rate, laparoscopic living donor nephrectomy, renal transplantation

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak affected the utilization and management of blood products in hospitals. Blood shortages occurred owing to social distancing policies and reduction in blood donors. However, only a few studies examined whether these changes affected blood usage and transfusion patterns. We retrospectively reviewed blood component usage according to hospital departments and phases of surgery in transfused patients admitted between 1 March 2019 and 28 February 2021, in a single center in Anyang, Korea. We also analyzed the length of hospital stay and mortality to determine prognosis. In 2020, 32,050 blood components were transfused to 2877 patients, corresponding to 15.8% and 11.8% less than the rates in 2019, respectively. Postoperative usage of blood products significantly decreased in 2020 (3.87 ± 6.50) compared to 2019 (7.12 ± 21.71) (p = 0.047). The length of hospital stay of the patients who underwent postoperative transfusion in 2019 (n = 197) was 13.97 ± 11.95 days, which was not significantly different from that in 2020 (n = 167), i.e., 16.44 ± 17.90 days (p = 0.118). Further, 9 of 197 postoperative transfusion patients died in 2019, while 8 of 167 patients died in 2020 (p = 0.920). The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in limited blood supply and reduced postoperative transfusions; however, patient prognosis was not affected.

Abstract Background Tranexamic acid (TXA) is effective in reduction of hemorrhage after major surgical procedures. In total joint replacement it is commonly administered intravenously. Despite various studies regarding the safety of its antifibrinolytic effect there are contraindications for systemic use. In total knee arthroplasty (TKA) TXA can also be administered intraarticular. However, there is a lack of studies focusing on dosage, effectiveness and complications of this local treatment. This study aimed to evaluate if blood loss and transfusion rate can be reduced in primary TKA by local application of TXA. Methods We included a total of 202 consecutive primary, unilateral TKA patients, 101 without and 101 with intraartricular application of 2 g TXA. Surgery was conducted after a standardized protocol. Blood loss, transfusion and complication rates were evaluated until three months after surgery. Blood loss was estimated using the hematocrit-value (Hk) prior and five days after surgery by Rosenecher’s and Mercuriali’s formula. Results By the use of TXA a significant reduction of blood loss (Rosencher average 1220 ml vs 1900 ml, Mercuriali average 430 ml vs 700 ml p

OBJECTIVE: Tranexamic acid (TXA) and the hemostatic agent Floseal® have already been used to minimize bleeding during total knee arthroplasty (TKA). METHODS: We conducted a prospective, randomized study of 90 patients with indications for TKA. Following inclusion, the participants were randomly allocated in blocks to the following 3 groups: control, Floseal® and TXA. Bleeding parameters, including decreases in hemoglobin (Hb), drain output, number of blood transfusions and complications, were assessed. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT02152917. RESULTS: The mean decrease in Hb was highest in the control group (4.81±1.09 g/dL), followed by the Floseal® (3.5±1.03 g/dL) and TXA (3.03±1.2 g/dL) groups. The Floseal® and TXA groups did not differ, and both performed better than the control group. The mean total drain output was 901.3±695.7 mL in the control group, 546.5±543.5 mL in the TXA group and 331.2±278.7 mL in the Floseal® group. Both TXA and Floseal® had significantly less output than the control group, and Floseal® had significantly less output than TXA. The number of blood transfusions was very small in all 3 groups. CONCLUSION: The use of TXA or Floseal® was associated with less blood loss than that of the control group among patients undergoing primary TKA, as measured both directly (intraoperative bleeding + drainage) and on the basis of a decrease in Hb, without differences in the rate of complications. TXA and Floseal® showed similar decreases in Hb and total measured blood loss, but the drain output was smaller in the Floseal® group.

We have conducted a prospective randomized study to determine the effect of intravenous or local administration of tranexamic acid (TXA) in perioperative transfusion rates, hospital stay and overall hospitalization costs in patients underwent total knee (TKA) or total hip (THA) arthroplasty. During 2015- 2016, 125 THA and 124 TKA consecutive patients were randomly allocated to receive low dose TXA either intravenously (ivTXA groups) or local administration (locTXA groups) or to serve as controls. Power analysis showed that 41 patients in each group were required in order to have an 80% probability of demonstrating a between surgeries difference of more than 35%. Full blood counts obtained on the first and third postoperative day and the maximum hemoglobin difference was documented in all patients. The costs of hospitalization, transfusions and TXA were retrieved by the hospital financial administration. All groups were homogenic in regards to age and preoperative Hgb levels. In both THA and TKA patients, a statistically significant reduction in the maximum hemoglobin difference was found for both the intravenous (ivTXA) and local application (locTXA) groups compared to controls (P