Effects of epsilon aminocaproic acid on primary hemostasis

These studies examined the effect of an oral dose of epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA) on primary hemostasis. Bleeding time tests (with and without the use of a blood pressure cuff) were measured before and 2 h following EACA in 56 patients with mild bleeding disorders and/or thrombocytopenia. Preliminary studies evaluated the reproducibility of these tests in 13 patients who had bleeding times (cuff) ranging from 8.0 to greater than 20 min. Their replicate bleeding time values with cuff agreed within 2.5 min and those without cuff within 3 min. Therefore, the 56 study patients were considered to have had no change in their bleeding times after EACA, if their bleeding time with cuff was +/- 2.5 min and/or their nonoccluded value was +/- 3 min of their baseline values, respectively. An isolated increase in bleeding times was observed in 6 of 56 (11%) patients. All 6 had myelodysplasia associated with long bleeding times; their nonoccluded values increased by 5-14 min. Of the 56 study patients, 54% showed a decrease in their bleeding times following EACA. The changes were evident with venostasis in 18 of 30 (60%) and without venostasis in 12 (40%) patients. These studies suggest that EACA may improve primary hemostasis in some patients with prolonged bleeding times.