• Kopalasuntharam Muhunthan, Sandrasegarampillai Balakumar, Thiyahini S Navaratnaraja, Sundaralingam Premakrishna, and Sabaratnam Arulkumaran.
• Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Biochemistry, and Pharmacology, University of Jaffna, and the Department of Anesthesiology, Teaching Hospital-Jaffna, Jaffna, Sri Lanka; and the Molecular and Clinical Sciences Research Institute, St George's, University of London, London, United Kingdom.
• Obstet Gynecol. 2020 Apr 1; 135 (4): 945-948.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the pharmacokinetics of tranexamic acid after oral administration to postpartum women.MethodsWe conducted a single-center pharmacokinetic study at Teaching Hospital-Jaffna, Sri Lanka, on 12 healthy postpartum women who delivered vaginally. After oral administration of 2 g of immediate-release tranexamic acid 1 hour after delivery, pharmacokinetic parameters were measured on plasma samples at 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, 3, 3.5, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, and 12 hours. Plasma tranexamic acid concentrations were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. The outcome measures were maximum observed plasma concentration, time to maximum plasma concentration, time to reach effective plasma concentration, time period effective serum concentration lasted, area under the curve for drug concentration, and half-life of tranexamic acid.ResultsThe mean maximum observed plasma concentration was 10.06 micrograms/mL (range 8.56-12.22 micrograms/mL). The mean time to maximum plasma concentration was 2.92 hours (range 2.5-3.5 hours). Mean time taken to reach the effective plasma concentration of 5 micrograms/mL and the mean time this concentration lasted were 0.87 hours and 6.73 hours, respectively. Duration for which plasma tranexamic acid concentration remained greater than 5 micrograms/mL was 5.86 hours. Half-life was 1.65 hours. Area under the curve for drug concentration was 49.16 micrograms.h/mL (range 43.75-52.69 micrograms.h/mL).ConclusionClinically effective plasma concentrations of tranexamic acid in postpartum women may be achieved within 1 hour of oral administration. Given the promising pharmacokinetic properties, we recommend additional studies with larger sample sizes to investigate the potential of oral tranexamic acid for the treatment or prophylaxis of postpartum hemorrhage.

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