Topical TRanexamic Acid vs. Placebo on Acute Postoperative Pain Following DRF Fixation (TRADR)

April 28, 2026 updated by: Ryan Paul, University Health Network, Toronto

The Effect of Topical TRanexamic Acid vs. Placebo on Acute Postoperative Pain Following Distal Radius Fracture Fixation: a Randomized Controlled Trial - The TRADR Study

The goal of this study is to find out whether the use of topical tranexamic acid (TXA) into the surgical wound will result in less post-operative pain, less pain killer use, and better post-operative use of the wrist in people undergoing surgery for a wrist fracture compared to not using topical TXA (placebo).

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

90

Phase

  • 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 Contact

Study Locations

    • Ontario
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada
        • Recruiting
        • Toronto Western Hospital
        • Contact:

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

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Patients undergoing open reduction internal fixation (Volar approach) for operative management of a distal radius fracture;
  • Aged 18 or older;
  • Provision of informed consent;
  • Cognitive ability and English-language skills required to complete outcome measures.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Revision surgery or any additional operative management of ipsilateral wrist injury
  • Distal radius fracture treated with a dorsal approach
  • Known history of lymphedema or lymph node dissection in the operative extremity
  • Known chronic pain conditions, fibromyalgia, or polymyalgia rheumatic
  • Current user of opioids and/or on chronic opioids use
  • Known allergic reaction to TXA
  • Anticoagulant use not stopped in time for surgery as per thrombosis Canada guidelines (i.e. warfarin, acetylsalicylic acid, direct oral anticoagulants, etc.)
  • Previous thrombotic stroke or thromboembolic disorders (i.e. known previous DVT, PE, or clotting disorders)
  • Current pregnancy or breastfeeding
  • Previous neurologic injury causing paralysis of affected shoulder/arm
  • Severe cardio-respiratory disease (i.e. ASA Grade IV or higher).

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Topical TRanexamic Acid
10mL of 100mg/mL TXA in addition to the standard care
10mL of 100mg/mL TXA will be administered into the surgical wound prior closure.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
10mL of 100mg/mL normal saline in addition to the standard care
10mL of 100mg/mL normal saline will be administered into the surgical wound prior closure.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
acute post-op pain
Time Frame: 24 hours to 72 hours postoperatively
It will be assessed with VAS 0 to 10cm, with higher score indicating worse pain.
24 hours to 72 hours postoperatively

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
opioid use
Time Frame: 1, 2, and 6-week post-surgery
Opioid use will be recorded on patients' medication diary
1, 2, and 6-week post-surgery
persistent pain
Time Frame: 1, 2, and 6-week post-surgery
It will be assessed with VAS 0 to 10cm, with higher score indicating worse pain.
1, 2, and 6-week post-surgery
unscheduled hand-related procedures
Time Frame: 1, 2, and 6-week post-surgery
clinic/emergency unit visits or any issue or events related to the condition that might lead participant to visit the emergency room, be seen by a doctor, or undergo any intervention more frequently than the usual visits
1, 2, and 6-week post-surgery
Patient reported function
Time Frame: 1, 2, and 6-week post-surgery
will be assessed using the disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand questionnaire (DASH) score 0 to 100, with higher score indicating more disability.
1, 2, and 6-week post-surgery

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

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.

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)

August 13, 2025

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 22, 2024

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 22, 2024

First Posted (Actual)

April 25, 2024

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 28, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 23-5708

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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.

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