Chinese Journal of Tissue Engineering Research ›› 2021, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (15): 2430-2436.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.2095-4344.3821

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Efficacy and safety of tranexamic acid and epsilon-aminocaproic acid in reducing perioperative blood loss during total knee arthroplasty: a meta-analysis 

Chen Wang, Feng Shuo, Zhang Yu, Chen Xiangyang   

  1. The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221002, Jiangsu Province, China
  • Received:2020-06-28 Revised:2020-07-03 Accepted:2020-07-31 Online:2021-05-28 Published:2021-01-05
  • Contact: Chen Xiangyang, MD, Chief physician, Associate professor, Master’s supervisor, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221002, Jiangsu Province, China
  • About author:Chen Wang, Master candidate, The Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221002, Jiangsu Province, China

Abstract: OBJECTIVE: There are few comparative studies on tranexamic acid and epsilon-aminocaproic acid in the perioperative period of total knee arthroplasty. The purpose of this study is to compare the perioperative differences between the two drugs in total knee arthroplasty, and systematically evaluate the safety and effectiveness of the two drugs. 
METHODS: We searched by keywords on the databases of Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, CNKI, Wanfang, and VIP, and used software Endnote X9 for data screening and selection, software Review Manager 5.3 for data analysis and draw funnel and forest plots. This mete-analysis included seven studies that directly compared the primary and secondary clinical outcomes of tranexamic acid and epsilon-aminocaproic acid. 
RESULTS: (1) Of the seven studies included, 1 508 patients received the tranexamic acid and 1 956 patients received epsilon-aminocaproic acid. (2) The differences between the tranexamic acid group and the epsilon-aminocaproic acid group in terms of total blood loss, discharge hemoglobin, and erythrocyte units transfused were statistically significant (P < 0.05); and the tranexamic acid group was better than the epsilon-aminocaproic acid group. (3) There were no differences in the primary results such as intraoperative blood loss, erythrocyte volume loss, hematocrit drop, transfusion units per patient, number of blood transfusion, drain output and the secondary results such as length of stay, tourniquet time, operative time, pulmonary complications, cardiac complications, and number of readmission between the two groups (P > 0.05). 
CONCLUSION: This meta-analysis proves that both anti-fibrinolytic drugs showed similar efficacy in reducing intraoperative blood loss, erythrocyte volume loss, drain output and complications. However, tranexamic acid is significantly better than epsilon-aminocaproic acid in reducing total blood loss, discharge hemoglobin, and erythrocyte units transfused.

Key words: bone, knee, arthroplasty, blood loss volume, tranexamic acid, epsilon-aminocaproic acid, meta-analysis

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