Postinjury fibrinolysis shutdown: Rationale for selective tranexamic acid
Ernest E Moore, Hunter B Moore, Eduardo Gonzalez, Michael P Chapman, Kirk C Hansen, Angela Sauaia, Christopher C Silliman, Anirban Banerjee, Ernest E Moore, Hunter B Moore, Eduardo Gonzalez, Michael P Chapman, Kirk C Hansen, Angela Sauaia, Christopher C Silliman, Anirban Banerjee
Abstract
Postinjury systemic fibrinolysis has been recognized as a biologic process for more than 200 years, but the specific mechanisms of regulation and their clinical implications remain to be elucidated. By the 1950s, the plasminogen-plasmin-antiplasmin system was established as critical in preserving microvascular patency during blood clotting to maintain hemostasis. The challenges in modulating systemic fibrinolysis became evident soon thereafter. In the 1960s systemic fibrinolysis was identified by thrombelastography (TEG) during the anhepatic phase of liver transplantation, prompting the recommendation for intraoperative antifibrinolytics. But the administration of antifibrinolytic was associated with fatal postoperative pulmonary emboli. During the same period, there was experimental evidence that antifibrinolytics prevented irreversible hemorrhagic shock. More recently, a randomized trial indicated that plasmin inhibition during coronary artery bypass grafting was associated with increased mortality. The interest in antifibrinolytic therapy for trauma induced coagulopathy (TIC) is a relatively recent event, largely driven by the increasing use of viscoelastic hemostatic assays. The CRASH-2 trial, published in 2010, stimulated worldwide enthusiasm for tranexamic acid (TXA). However, the limitations of this study were soon acknowledged, raising concern for the unbridled use of TXA. Most recently, the documentation of fibrinolysis shutdown soon after injury has highlighted the potential adverse effects due to the untimely administration of TXA. A recent retrospective analysis in severely injured patients supports this hypothesis. But final clarity of this volatile topic awaits the completion of the current ongoing randomized clinical trials throughout the world.
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Source: PubMed