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Review
. 2024 Nov 1;62(5):620-627.
doi: 10.1097/SHK.0000000000002455. Epub 2024 Aug 20.

THE ROLE OF TRANEXAMIC ACID IN POSTPARTUM HEMORRHAGE: A NARRATIVE REVIEW

Nicholas J Larson  1 , Anaas Moncef Mergoum  1 , David J Dries  1 , Alan Cook  2 , Benoit Blondeau  1 , Frederick B Rogers  1
Affiliations
Review

THE ROLE OF TRANEXAMIC ACID IN POSTPARTUM HEMORRHAGE: A NARRATIVE REVIEW

Nicholas J Larson et al. Shock. .

Abstract

Postpartum hemorrhage is the leading cause of preventable maternal illness and death globally and carries a disproportionately high burden of mortality in low- to middle-income countries. Tranexamic acid, an antifibrinolytic drug, has been widely adopted to control bleeding in trauma and other surgical conditions. Within the last decade, the World Health Organization updated their guidelines for the treatment of postpartum hemorrhage to include the use of tranexamic acid in all cases of postpartum hemorrhage. However, despite these guidelines and the proven utility of tranexamic acid to treat postpartum hemorrhage, widespread adoption of tranexamic acid into global standards of care across professional organizations has not been achieved. It is important for healthcare providers to understand the etiologies of postpartum hemorrhage, the mechanism of action and adverse effect profile of tranexamic acid, and the available literature regarding the use of tranexamic acid to prevent and treat postpartum hemorrhage to provide the best care for the pregnant patient.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03475342 NCT04304625 NCT05562609.

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Conflict of interest statement

The author reports no conflicts of interest.

References

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