Effects of intravenous versus topical application of tranexamic acid on blood loss following total knee arthroplasty / 中国组织工程研究

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND:Increasing reports have focused on the application of tranexamic acid to reduce bleeding during total knee arthroplasty, but its usage method remains controversial. OBJECTIVE:To explore the impact of topical articular application of tranexamic acid and intravenous application of tranexamic acid on blood loss during primary unilateral total knee arthroplasty. METHODS:According to randomized control ed principle, 90 patients who received unilateral total knee arthroplasty in the Tengzhou Central People’s Hospital from October 2013 to December 2014 were enrol ed in this study, and randomly assigned to intravenous injection group and topical injection group (n=45). Patients in the intravenous injection group were given tranexamic acid by intravenous injection (10 mg/kg, maximum 1.2 g) during the induction of anaesthesia. Patients in the topical injection group were given intraarticularly tranexamic acid (2 g dissolved in 50 mL physiological saline) before articular capsule suture and after prosthesis fixation. Drainage amount after replacement, hemoglobin and hematocrit on the next day after replacement, and the number of blood transfusion population were compared between the two groups. Simultaneously, clinical symptoms of pulmonary embolism and deep vein thrombosis in the lower limb were observed. If necessary, lower extremity vascular Doppler ultrasound was conducted. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION:No significant differences in drainage amount after replacement, hemoglobin and hematocrit on the next day after replacement, the number of blood transfusion population, and the proportion of blood transfusion were detected between the two groups (P>0.05). No deep vein thrombosis was found in the lower limbs at 14 days after replacement in both groups. These findings confirm that compared with intravenous systemic application, periarticular topical application of tranexamic acid during total knee replacement could obtain identical effects on reducing blood loss and blood transfusion after surgery, and could avoid relevant complications of intravenous application of tranexamic acid.