ABSTRACT
Background: Total hip replacement surgery is one of the most advanced and technically demanding surgeries in orthopaedics in which blood loss is inevitable. Most of the patients are elderly with multiple co morbidities and the estimated one-year mortality is about 25%. Objective of the study was to assess the need of post-operative blood transfusion in total hip replacement surgery in patients given tranexamic acid versus control. Methods: It was a randomized controlled trial. Sixty patients of both sexes undergoing total hip replacement surgery included in study on the basis of inclusion and exclusion. Equal patients 30-30 (50%) divided in two groups Tranexamic Acid group and Control Group based on a computer-generated random number table. The Tranexamic Acid group received two doses of 10mg/kg body weight of tranexamic acid just before surgery and two hours later intravenously, whereas Control group received two doses of 10mg/kg body weight of normal saline at similar intervals. Numbers of blood transfusions required postoperatively were noted based on the postoperative haemoglobin readings. Results: Mean post-op haemoglobin for the Tranexamic acid group was 10.1±2.6 g/dl and for the Control group it was 9.1±2.4 g/dl. Seven patients (23%) in intervention group required blood transfusion compared to 13 (43%) in control group. Conclusions: Our study revealed that Perioperative Tranexamic acid is a safe and useful method of reducing intra op bleeding and need of post-operative blood transfusion postoperatively in THR patients.