Role of tranexamic acid in nasal surgery: A systemic review and meta-analysis of randomized control trial

Nasal surgeries (such as Functional Endoscopic Sinus Surgery, Rhinoplasty, and Septorhinoplasty) are popular procedures. But perioperative bleeding, eyelid edema, and periorbital ecchymosis remain problems. Tranexamic acid (TXA) is an antifibrinolytic, and it was used to reduce the perioperative bleeding. However, there is no enough evidence judging its safety and efficiency. Therefore, a meta-analysis is conducted by us to evaluate the role of TXA in patients undergoing nasal surgeries.

A search of the literature was performed until June 2018; the PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Google Scholar databases were searched for related articles using search strategy. Two authors independently assessed the methodological quality of the included studies and extracted data. Surgical information and postoperative outcomes were analyzed. Only randomized controlled trial (RCT) articles were included, and subgroup analysis was established to deal with heterogeneity. RevMan 5.3 software was selected to conduct the meta-analysis.

Eleven RCTs were included in our meta-analysis. There were significant differences in blood loss (P < .001), surgical field quality (P < .001), edema rating of upper (P < .001) and lower (P < .001) eyelid, ecchymosis rating of upper (P < .001) and lower eyelid (P < .001) when comparing the TXA group to the placebo group. However, the difference in operation time (P = .57) was not significant between the two groups.

Perioperative TXA could reduce the blood loss and improve the quality of surgery field during nasal surgery, and it was helpful for reducing the edema and ecchymosis after nasal surgeries, but it has little influence in reducing the operation time.