Systematic review: tranexamic acid for upper gastrointestinal bleeding

Abstract

Background: Tranexamic acid may reduce upper gastrointestinal bleeding and stabilize patients before endoscopic treatments.

Aim: To review randomized trials on tranexamic acid for upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Methods: Manual and electronic searches of The Cochrane Library, MEDLINE, EMBASE and Science Citation Index were combined. Intention-to-treat random effect meta-analyses were performed and results presented as RRs with 95% confidence intervals.

Results: Seven double-blind randomized trials on tranexamic acid vs. placebo were included. Of 1754 patients randomized, 21% were excluded. Only one trial included endoscopic treatments or proton pump inhibitors. Five per cent of patients on tranexamic acid and 8% of controls died (RR: 0.61, 95% CI: 0.42-0.89). No significant differences were found on bleeding, bleeding-related mortality, surgery or transfusion requirements. Adverse events were unclearly reported. Data from three of the included trials suggested that tranexamic acid did not significantly increase the risk of thromboembolic disease.

Conclusions: The present review suggests that tranexamic acid may reduce all-cause mortality. However, because of limitations in the internal and external validity of included trials, additional evidence is needed before treatment recommendations can be made.