Efficacy and safety of intravenous tranexamic acid in total shoulder arthroplasty: A meta-analysis

Total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) results in a large amount of perioperative blood loss due to severe trauma.

To investigate the safety and efficacy of intravenous tranexamic acid (TXA) in TSA.

We searched the PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase and Web of Science databases for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on the use of TXA in TSA. And all the results were checked and assessed by Reference Citation Analysis (https://www.referencecitationanalysis.com/). A meta-analysis was performed with Review Manager 5.3 to calculate the odds ratio (OR) or weighted mean difference (WMD) of related outcome indicators.

A total of 5 RCTs with level 1 evidence were included. There were 369 cases, with 186 in the TXA group and 183 in the placebo group. The meta-analysis showed that TXA can significantly reduce total blood loss during the perioperative period [WMD = -249.56, 95% confidence interval (CI): -347.6 to -151.52, P < 0.0001], and the incidence of adverse reactions was low (OR = 0.36, 95%CI: 0.16-0.83, P = 0.02). Compared with the placebo group, the TXA group had significantly less total haemoglobin loss (WMD = -34.39, 95%CI: -50.56 to -18.22), less haemoglobin fluctuation before and after the operation (WMD = -0.6, 95%CI: -0.93 to -0.27) and less 24-h drain output (WMD = -136.87, 95%CI: -165.87 to -106.49). There were no significant differences in the operation time (P = 0.11) or hospital length of stay (P = 0.30) between the two groups.

The application of intravenous TXA in the perioperative period of TSA can significantly reduce the total volume of perioperative blood loss and reduce the incidence of adverse reactions, so TXA is worthy of widespread clinical use.