title: Comparing efficacy and safety of 2 methods of tranexamic acid administration in reducing blood loss following total knee arthroplasty: A meta-analysis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were to gather data to evaluate the efficacy and safety of topical tranexamic acid (TXA) versus intravenous (IV) TXA for blood loss after a total knee arthroplasty (TKA).
  
  
  METHODS
  Electronic databases: Pubmed, Web of Science, Cochrane library, and Embase from inception to June 2016 were searched. RCTs that comparing topical with IV TXA for blood loss control in patients prepared for TKA were included in this meta-analysis. The Cochrane risk of bias tool was used to appraise risk of bias. The primary outcomes were needed for transfusion, total blood loss, and blood loss in drainage. Secondary outcomes are hemoglobin (Hb) value at 24-hour post TKA and complication (deep venous thrombosis [DVT] and infection). The efficacy of blood loss was tested by total blood loss, drainage volume, Hb drop, and the Hb value at 24 hours after TKA. The safety was measured by the occurrence of DVT and infection. Continuous outcomes were expressed as the mean difference with the respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Discontinuous outcomes were expressed as the relative risk with 95% CIs. Stata 12.0 software (Stata Corp., College Station, TX) was used for the meta-analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 14 articles involving 1390 patients were finally included for this meta-analysis. The pooled results revealed that there were no significant difference between the need for transfusion, total blood loss, blood loss in drainage, Hb value at 24-hour post TKA, the occurrence of complications (infection and DVT) between topical administration of TXA and IV TXA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Topical TXA has similar efficacy for blood loss control to IV TXA without sacrificing safety in TKA. However, the dose of topical TXA and IV TXA is different, thus, optimal timing and dose of TXA are still needed to explore the maximum effect of TXA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedics, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University Department of Orthopaedics, The First Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, PR China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.forename: Zhigang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Bing
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: You
authors.forename: Juehua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jing
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D061605:Administration, Intravenous; D000287:Administration, Topical; D000933:Antifibrinolytic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000379:methods; D016063:Blood Loss, Surgical / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D014148:Tranexamic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D000933:Antifibrinolytic Agents; D014148:Tranexamic Acid