• Amaury Gossiome, Clément Claustre, Laurie Fraticelli, Landry Jacquet, Jean-Christophe Bouchut, Etienne Javouhey, Sonia Courtil-Teyssedre, Xavier-Jean Taverna, Jean-Stéphane David, Eric Mercier, Karim Tazarourte, Carlos El Khoury, and Axel Benhamed.
• Service SAMU-Urgences, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Édouard Herriot, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Lyon, France.
• Pediatr Crit Care Me. 2022 Nov 1; 23 (11): e507e516e507-e516.

ObjectivesDescribe prehospital tranexamic acid (TXA) use and appropriateness within a major trauma pediatric population, and identify the factors associated with its use.DesignMulticenter, retrospective study, 2014-2020.SettingData were extracted from a multicenter French trauma registry including nine trauma centers within a physician-led prehospital emergency medical services (EMS) system.PatientsPatients less than 18 years old were included. Those who did not receive prehospital intervention by a mobile medical team and those with missing data on TXA administration were excluded.InterventionsNone.Measurements And Main ResultsNine-hundred thirty-four patients (median [interquartile range] age: 14 yr [9-16 yr]) were included, and 68.6% n = 639) were male. Most patients were involved in a road collision (70.2%, n = 656) and suffered a blunt trauma (96.5%; n = 900). Patients receiving TXA (36.6%; n = 342) were older (15 [13-17] vs 12 yr [6-16 yr]) compared with those who did not. Patient severity was higher in the TXA group (Injury Severity Score 14 [9-25] vs 6 [2-13]; p < 0.001). The median dosage was 16 mg/kg (13-19 mg/kg). TXA administration was found in 51.8% cases ( n = 256) among patients with criteria for appropriate use. Conversely, 32.4% of patients ( n = 11) with an isolated severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) also received TXA. Age (odds ratio [OR], 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.2), A and B prehospital severity grade (OR, 7.1; 95% CI, 4.1-12.3 and OR, 4.5; 95% CI, 2.9-6.9 respectively), and year of inclusion (OR, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.1-1.3) were associated with prehospital TXA administration.ConclusionsIn our physician-led prehospital EMS system, TXA is used in a third of severely injured children despite the lack of high-level of evidence. Only half of the population with greater than or equal to one criteria for appropriate TXA use received it. Conversely, TXA was administered in a third of isolated severe TBI. Further research is warranted to clarify TXA indications and to evaluate its impact on mortality and its safety profile to oversee its prescription.Copyright © 2022 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the World Federation of Pediatric Intensive and Critical Care Societies.

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