title: Is tranexamic acid effective for acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding?
abstract: Upper gastrointestinal bleeding constitutes a medical-surgical emergency given its important associated morbidity and mortality. The antifibrinolytic tranexamic acid might help stopping bleeding, but controversy remains about its role in this setting. Searching in Epistemonikos database, which is maintained by screening 30 databases, we identified five systematic reviews including eight randomized trials. We combined the evidence using meta-analysis and generated a summary of findings table following the GRADE approach. We concluded tranexamic acid probably decreases rebleeding and mortality, without increasing thromboembolic adverse effects in patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Proyecto Epistemonikos, Santiago, Chile. Address: Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Lira 63, Santiago Centro, Chile. Email: radagabriel@epistemonikos.org.
authors.forename: Sebastián
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Flores
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Proyecto Epistemonikos, Santiago, Chile.
authors.forename: Carolina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Avilés
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Interna, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; Proyecto Epistemonikos, Santiago, Chile; Programa de Salud Basada en Evidencia, Facultad de Medicina, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile; GRADE working group; The Cochrane Collaboration.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rada
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000933:Antifibrinolytic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006471:Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000517:prevention & control; D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D012008:Recurrence; D014148:Tranexamic Acid / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000933:Antifibrinolytic Agents; D014148:Tranexamic Acid