The Institute for Safe Medication Practices added tranexamic acid injection solutions to its high-alert medications list, which registers drugs linked with a high risk of causing significant harm to patients if used in error.
Tranexamic acid is an antifibrinolytic used to control bleeding during hemorrhages, such as postpartum hemorrhages, according to a news release shared with Becker's.
The inclusion to the 2024 high-alert list, which began with six drugs in 1989, is based on expert consensus.
Safety experts said "errors involving tranexamic acid for injection are frequently related to storage issues and mix-ups with look-alike medication vials, most often anesthetics that are also commonly stored in surgical and procedural locations. When accidentally administered via a neuraxial route, tranexamic acid injection is a potent neurotoxin with a mortality rate of about 50%, and almost always harmful to the patient."
The list can be accessed here.