Efficacy of tranexamic acid on operative bleeding in endoscopic sinus surgery: A meta-analysis and systematic review

Tranexamic acid might help control bleeding during surgery because of antifibrinolytic characteristics. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of systemic tranexamic acid compared to control in blood loss, operative time, and surgical field and incidence of postoperative emesis and thromboembolism in endoscopic sinus surgery.

Two authors independently searched six databases (PubMed, SCOPUS, Embase, the Web of Science, Google Scholar, and the Cochrane database) from their inception to July 2018. The included studies compared perioperative tranexamic acid administration (treatment group) with a placebo, and the outcomes of interest were intraoperative morbidities, including surgical time, operative bleeding, and hypotension; postoperative morbidities such as nausea and vomiting; and coagulation profiles.

Seven studies comprising 562 participants were reviewed in this study. Operative time (standardized mean difference (SMD) = -0.60; 95% confidence interval (CI)[-0.93, -0.29]) and intraoperative blood loss (SMD = -0.66; 95% CI [-0.86, -0.46]) were statistically lower in the treatment group than placebo group; and the quality of the surgical field (SMD = -0.80; 95% CI [-1.12; -0.48]) and surgeon satisfaction (SMD = 1.74; 95% CI [1.36; 2.13]) were statistically higher in the treatment group than the placebo group. By contrast, there were no significant differences in the hemodynamic (SMD = 0.08; 95% CI [-0.20; 0.37]) and coagulation profiles (SMD = -0.18; 95% CI [-0.42, 0.07]) of the two groups. Additionally, tranexamic acid had no significant effect on emetic or thrombotic events compared to placebo.

This meta-analysis showed that the systemic administration of tranexamic acid could decrease operative time and blood loss intraoperatively, increasing the satisfaction of surgeons. It did not provoke intraoperative hemodynamic instability, postoperative emetic events, or coagulation profile abnormality. Only a small number of studies were enrolled, so further trials are needed to confirm the results of this study. Laryngoscope, 129:800-807, 2019.