New Drug Could Save Thousands
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Hospitals might have more empty beds soon. A new study is evaluating a drug called tranexamic acid (TXA). TXA has the power to reduce the rate of blood-clot breakdown and could save the lives of thousand of accident victims worldwide. The study, published online first and in an upcoming Lancet, shows that injuries are major causes of death worldwide.
About 1.6 million people die as a result of leading acts of violence every year, and more than 90 percent of trauma deaths occur in low-income and middle-income countries. Part of the response to surgery and trauma is the stimulation of clot breakdown or fibrinolysis.
The authors of the study proposed that TXA might reduce mortality in accident patients by inhibiting the enzyme that carries out fibrinolysis. The trial included 20,000 adult patients in 274 hospitals across 40 countries over a period of four weeks. Participants received either one gram of TXA by injection, followed by another gram in a drip over eight hours, or a matching placebo. Results showed that TXA reduced the risk of death by any cause by 10 percent compared with the placebo. Looking specifically at the risk of death due to bleeding, TXA reduced the risk by 15 percent compared with the placebo, with 4.9 percent of patients in the TXA group dying versus 5.7 percent in the placebo group. The researchers estimate that that TXA could prevent up to 100,000 deaths per year across the world. They are hopeful about other potential future applications of TXA such as reduction of brain bleeds after injury and reduction of postpartum hemorrhage in women worldwide. The authors concluded that the option to use TXA should be available to doctors treating trauma patients in all countries, and this drug should be considered for inclusion on the WHO List of Essential Medicines.
