• J J Peña, E Mateo, E Martín, J Llagunes, P Carmona, L Blasco, and en representación del Grupo de trabajo de Anestesiología y Cuidados Críticos de Cirugía Cardiaca en la Comunidad Valenciana.
• Servicio de Anestesia, Reanimación y Terapia del Dolor, Consorcio Hospital General Universitario de Valencia, España. juanjopborras@yahoo.es
• Rev Esp Anestesiol Reanim. 2013 Mar 1;60(3):142-8.

IntroductionPostoperative bleeding is common complication, affecting up to 20% of patients, after cardiac bypass surgery. Fibrinolysis is one of the causes of this excessive bleeding, and for this reason the use of tranexamic acid is recommended. The problem with using this is that there are numerous guidelines and differences in the dose to be administered. Our aim was to evaluate whether there were any differences in postoperative bleeding and morbidity after cardiac surgery with the administering of different tranexamic acid doses in three university hospitals.Material And MethodsA retrospective, multicentre cohort study was conducted. A total of 146 patients who were subjected to elective cardiac bypass surgery according to the anaesthetic-surgical protocol of each hospital were included in the study. The clinical histories were reviewed, and they were divided into two groups according to the tranexamic acid dose: Group A (high doses), initial dose of 20mg/kg and continuous infusion of 4 mg/kg/hour until closure of the sternotomy. A further 100mg was added to prime the bypass machine. Group B (low doses), initial dose of 10mg/kg followed by a continuous infusion of 2mg/kg/hour until closure of the sternotomy. A further 50mg was added to prime the bypass machine. Variables, such as age, sex, weight, height, type of surgical procedure (valvular, coronary or mixed), haematocrit, INR, and preoperative platelet count, time and temperature of the bypass machine, and haematocrit on sternum closure, were recorded. Among the post-operative variables collected were: debit due to drainage at 6, 12 and 24 hours after surgery, number and type of blood products transfused in the first 24 hours, need for further surgery due to haemorrhage, CVA, TIA, or a new acute myocardial infarction, convulsions, and mortality.ResultsThe incidence of increased bleeding (patients in the 90 percentile) was higher in Group B at all the study evaluation times (P<.05). The incidence of further surgery due to bleeding, and the need for transfusion of ≥ 3 units of packed red cells was lower in Group A (5.56%) than in Group B (13.89%). There were no significant differences in the requirements for blood products transfusions between the groups. As regards associated morbidity, there was one isolated case of convulsion and a perioperative AMI in another case in Group A, and three cases of perioperative AMI in Group B.ConclusionsElevated doses of tranexamic acid in cardiac bypass surgery appear to significantly reduce bleeding in the first hours after surgery compared to low doses. However, this decrease did not lead to a reduction in the needs for blood products.Copyright © 2012 Sociedad Española de Anestesiología, Reanimación y Terapéutica del Dolor. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

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