Efficacy of intravenous tranexamic acid at reducing blood loss during elective caesarean section in a tertiary care hospital in North Kerala

Abstract

Increasing caesarean section rate is a source of concern to obstetricians due to the attendant increased health risk, its commonest complication is bleeding, which occasionally may be life threatening. Tranexamic acid has recently been investigated as a potentially useful adjunct for the prevention of maternal morbidity. The research aimed to evaluate the efficacy of tranexamic acid at reducing blood loss during elective caesarean section. The method used was a Randomized, Double blind, Interventional study among women who had elective caesarean section at KMCT Medical College, Kozhikode, Kerala. Data analysis was done using statistical Package for Social Science (IBM SPSS). Mean blood loss in study arm was 352.4 ml, whereas in control arm it was 521.65 ml, which was statistically significant. Only 9.1 %of study population had >10% of fall in perioperative haemoglobin, whereas 43.2 % of control population had >10% fall, which was significant. Statistically significant difference between the two groups was noted with respect to duration of surgery. Intravenous tranexamic acid significantly reduced blood loss at elective caesarean sections. It also reduced the risk of blood loss greater than 1000 ml without increasing maternal risks.