Oral and Intravenous Tranexamic Acid in Lumbar Spine Surgery

November 9, 2026 updated by: Henry Ford Health System

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Oral and Intravenous Tranexamic Acid in Lumbar Spine Surgery

The purpose of this project is to compare the effectiveness of two different but well accepted routes of administration of tranexamic acid in order to reduce blood loss and need for transfusion in patients undergoing lumbar spine surgery. Specifically, this study seeks to identify if intravenous tranexamic acid is superior to oral tranexamic acid in reducing blood loss and need for transfusion.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Spine surgery is associated with large amount of perioperative blood loss. Factors influencing blood loss include surgical technique, operative time, number of vertebral levels arthrodesed, and others. Significant blood loss is associated with complications such as hypotension, end organ damage, or coagulopathy. Blood transfusions can increase risks of infection, blood incompatibility, and allergic reactions. Due to the significant risks and complications associated with blood loss and allogenic transfusions, efforts to identify safe and effective ways of lowering blood loss during spine surgery are crucial. Many methods have been utilized to reduce allogenic blood transfusions, such as autologous blood predonation, antifibrinolytic drugs, acute normovolemic hemodilution, intraoperative blood salvage, and others. Furthermore, the administration of antifibrinolytics, such as tranexamic acid (TXA) and epsilon-aminocaproic acid (EACA), has been shown to reduce bleeding in cardiac, gynecological, urologic and total joint replacement surgeries. There have been many published studies investigating various antifibrinolytic agents such as TXA, EACA, and aprotinin. While aprotinin was shown to increase mortality rate in patients following cardiac surgery, TXA and EACA have not been shown to cause any substantial morbidity or to increase rate of thromboembolic events. Although IV TXA has been shown to be effective in reducing blood loss and transfusions in patients undergoing spine surgery, no studies in the literature have investigated the efficacy of PO TXA in decreasing blood loss and transfusions. The investigators believe that PO TXA will be just as efficacious and more cost-effective in reducing blood loss and transfusion needs in patients undergoing lumbar spine surgery.

The ultimate goal is identifying the most cost-effective protocol to decrease blood loss and need for transfusion. If oral TXA is found to be as efficacious as IV TXA in reducing blood loss and need for transfusion, significant cost savings can be achieved for the patient and the health care system in general.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
83

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 4

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Michigan
      • Detroit, Michigan, United States, 48202
        • Henry Ford Health System

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Adult patients over age 18 and scheduled for open lumbar spine surgery (primary or revision)
  • Must be able to swallow tablets

Exclusion Criteria

  • Known allergy to TXA
  • History of renal failure or kidney transplant
  • History of arterial thromboembolic event (eg. myocardial infarction, stroke) within the past year
  • Placement of an arterial stent within the past year
  • History of blood clots (DVT, PE) within the past year
  • Refusal to receive blood products

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: Intravenous Tranexamic Acid

The IV TXA group will receive the standard dosing for our institution of 1 g TXA (diluted in 100 mL normal saline) given as an IV bolus immediately before incision and another 1 g TXA given before closure.
Drug: Tranexamic Acid

To identify if intravenous tranexamic acid is superior to oral tranexamic acid in reducing blood loss and need for transfusion in lumbar spine surgery.

Other Names:
  • Lysteda
Active Comparator: Oral Tranexamic Acid

The oral TXA group will receive 1950 mg TXA (3 tablets of 650 mg) approximately 2 hours before incision.
Drug: Tranexamic Acid

To identify if intravenous tranexamic acid is superior to oral tranexamic acid in reducing blood loss and need for transfusion in lumbar spine surgery.

Other Names:
  • Lysteda

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Time Frame
Post-operative Change in Hemoglobin Level Between the Two Groups
Time Frame: Day of surgery up to 24 hours day after surgery
Day of surgery up to 24 hours day after surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Post-operative Change of Blood Volume in Milliliters Between the Two Groups
Time Frame: 1 day after surgery until 7 days after surgery

The total blood volume change is calculated in milliliters
1 day after surgery until 7 days after surgery
Number of Participants Transfused Between the Two Groups
Time Frame: 1 day after surgery until patient is discharged, up to 7 days
1 day after surgery until patient is discharged, up to 7 days
Number of Participants Experiencing a Thromboembolic Event Between the Two Groups
Time Frame: 1 day after surgery until post operative visit 4 weeks after surgery
1 day after surgery until post operative visit 4 weeks after surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Henry Ford Health System

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 15, 2017

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
June 15, 2018

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
July 16, 2018

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 23, 2017

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 27, 2017

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 31, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
November 10, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
November 9, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
November 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 10608

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings