ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: In the past, both tranexamic acid and dexmedetomidine have been used separately to decrease intraoperative blood loss during orthognathic surgery. However, their combined use in the same setting has never been prospectively evaluated. The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of tranexamic acid on operative field visibility and blood loss during orthognathic surgery after dexmedetomidine-induced hypotensive anesthesia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The present prospective, randomized clinical trial included patients who had undergone orthognathic surgery under general anesthesia. The patients were divided into 2 groups. The dexmedetomidine and tranexamic (DT) group received an intravenous bolus of tranexamic acid (15 mg/kg) and intravenous dexmedetomidine (0.25 to 0.7 µg/kg/hr) as maintenance infusion. The dexmedetomidine (DS) group received only intravenous dexmedetomidine at the same dosage. All the patients received a bolus dose of intravenous dexmedetomidine (1 µg/kg) before the start of anesthesia induction. The operating surgeon rated the quality of the surgical visual field every 15 minutes using the Fromme ordinal scale. Intraoperative blood loss was estimated using the modified gross formula. The operating surgeon's satisfaction was assessed using a Likert scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS, version 22.0 (IBM Corp, Armonk, NY). Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests were used to assess the normality of the measured data, and categorical variables were analyzed using the χ2 or Fischer exact test. RESULTS: The study sample included 36 patients, with a mean age of 23.67 ± 11.298 years in the DS group and 20.28 ± 3.286 years in the DT group. Of the patients in the DS and DT groups, 66.66 and 61.11% were male, respectively. No statistically significant differences were found in the baseline characteristics between the 2 treatment groups. The surgeon reported a significantly better surgical visual field in the DT group compared with that in the DS group (P = .001). Also, the intraoperative blood loss significantly less in the DT group (231.11 ± 137.64 mL vs 360.17 ± 187.86 mL; P = .025). CONCLUSIONS: Tranexamic acid improved surgical field visibility and reduced intraoperative blood loss when administered in conjunction with dexmedetomidine during orthognathic surgery under controlled hypotensive anesthesia.
