Treatment with tranexamic acid — a commonly found and inexpensive drug — helps reduce risk of death in women suffering from post-partum haemorrhage, or excessive bleeding after childbirth, according to a study published in The Lancet.
The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial included women, aged 16 years and older, with a clinical diagnosis of post-partum haemorrhage after a vaginal birth or caesarean section. Researchers recruited the women from 193 hospitals in 21 countries.
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Between March 2010 and April 2016, researchers randomly assigned women to receive either 1g intravenous tranexamic acid or matching placebo in addition to usual care. If the bleeding continued after 30 minutes or stopped and restarted within 24 hours of the first dose, researchers administered a second dose of 1g of tranexamic acid or placebo.
Researchers enrolled 20,060 women. Of the women included in the analysis, 10,036 were randomly assigned to receive tranexamic acid and 9,985 were assigned to receive placebo.
The study shows that death due to bleeding occurred in 1.5 percent of the tranexamic acid group as compared to 1.9 percent of the placebo group. Among women who received treatment within three hours of giving birth, 1.2 percent in the tranexamic acid group died versus 1.7 percent in the placebo group.
Other causes of death and adverse events did not differ significantly between the tranexamic acid group and the placebo group.
"When used as a treatment for postpartum haemorrhage, tranexamic acid should be given as soon as possible after bleeding onset," study authors conclude.