Role of tranexamic acid in reducing peri-operative blood loss in open spine surgeries

Spine surgeries are associated with significant blood loss due to the extensive soft tissue dissection, bony decompression, and prolonged surgical time. Excessive bleeding may require blood transfusions and thereby increase the risk of adverse transfusion reactions. Therefore, minimizing peri-operative bleeding is important for spine surgeons to reduce post-operative morbidity. Tranexamic acid (TXA) is a synthetic anti-fibrinolytic drug, which helps in reducing perioperative blood loss in major surgeries. The evidence on the efficacy of this agent in all manner of spine surgeries is not sufficient. Hence this study was conducted to determine the efficacy of TXA on perioperative blood loss in major spinal surgeries. In a prospective study, two groups of patients with similar surgical profiles who were posted for all manner of open spine surgeries were included. One group received one gram of intravenous TXA while the others did not. Intra- and post-operative assessments included noting levels of surgery, duration of surgery, assessment of blood loss, intra- and/or post- operative blood transfusion, and blood collected in surgical drain at the end of 24 h. The intra-operative blood loss, frequency of intra-operative blood transfusion, post-operative Hemoglobin drop, and surgical drain output were found to be significantly lower in patients who received TXA. In spine surgeries, TXA was found to be effective in reducing intra-operative blood loss, need for intra-operative blood transfusion and post-operative Hb drop. Also, TXA had reduced surgical drain output significantly between the two groups.