Comparison of topical use of protamine and tranexamic acid in surgical patients requiring cardio-pulmonary bypass

To determine the effectiveness of local protamine in reducing post-operative blood loss compared to loca1 tranexamic acid. Randomized controlled trial. Armed Forces Institute of Cardiology/National Institute of Heart Diseases Rawalpindi from January 2011 to September 2011. One hundred and twenty cardiac surgrcal patients were randomly divided into two equal groups, one receiving local protamine while the other group receiving local tranexamic acid before chest closure. The efficiency was measured as post-operative blood loss and requirement of blood and blood products in the post-surgical ICU. RAverage blood loss in protamine group was significantly less [252.97 ml] compared to tranexamic acie group [680.67 ml]. hTumber of patients requiring no post-operative blood transfusion was sigruficantly higher in protamine group [76.7%] compared to tranexamic acid group [53.3%]. Local protamine is more effective in reducing post-operative blood loss than local tranexamic acid