The Effect of Antifibrinolytic Therapy in Prevention of Rebleeding before Early Aneurysm Surgery

ABSTRACT

OBJECT This study was conducted to evaluate whether short-term intravenous infusion of tranexamic acid (AMCA) was able to improve the management outcome by preventing rebleeding without increasing vasospasm and hydrocephalus associated with the long-term administration of this agent in the patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage(SAH) who were planned for the early surgery. METHODS: During the period from June, 1996 to May, 1998, 137 patients admitted within 3 days of their SAH and planned for early surgical intervention were subject to study population. Of these, 60 patients who had been treated with AMCA were classified as AMCA treated group and 77 patients without AMCA treatment as AMCA untreated group. Initially, prognostic factors for rebleeding, vasospasm, hydrocephalus and outcome following SAH including age, sex, clinical grade, CT grade, site of ruptured aneurysms, admission day after SAH, surgery day after SAH, number of aneurysms and hypertension history, were analyzed and compared between AMCA treated group and untreated group. Secondly, the incidence of rebleeding, symptomatic vasospasm and hydrocephalus were compared between the two groups. Also, the management outcome of the patients was compared between the two groups. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in prognostic factors between the two groups. The rebleeding rate was 0% in the AMCA treated group whereas the rate was 7.8% in the untreated group. This difference was statistically significant. The incidences of symptomatic vasospasm and hydrocephalus were found not to be significantly different between the two groups. Of the treated group, 31.7% of patients developed hydrocephalus compared to 32.5% of those at the untreated group. Fourteen(23.3%) patients in treated group developed symptomatic vasospasm and 6 of them(10%) suffered stroke whereas incidences of these in untreated group were 25.9% and 11.7%, respectively. The AMCA treated group showed more favorable outcome than that of untreated group. There was no case of death by rebleeding in the AMCA treated group while one of the main causes of death in the untreated group was rebleeding. CONCLUSION: Short-term high-dose AMCA administration is considered beneficial in improving outcome and diminishing the risk of rebleeding in the patients who suffer from an aneurysmal SAH prior to early surgical intervention.