Clinical Trials

The goal of this prospective randomized study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a drug, epsilon aminocaproic acid (EACA), in reducing the frequency of postoperative blood transfusion following primary total hip arthroplasty.  In our institution, up to 40% of patients with a preoperative of 13.5 g/dl or less undergoing total hip arthroplasty will require a blood transfusion.  Fibrinolytic drugs such as EACA and tranexamic acid (TA) have been shown to decrease blood loss during surgery and decrease the likelihood of blood transfusion during postoperative hospitalization..  Both drugs decrease the body's ability to break down a blood clot, thus pushing the balance of blood clot formation and breakdown towards clot formation.  This mechanism can decrease the amount of blood loss during and after a surgical procedure.  The haemostatic effect of EACA has been investigated in multiple studies with the majority showing a positive effect on postoperative hemoglobin levels and decreased blood transfusion rates.   Though several studies exist revealing the effective and safe use of perioperative TA, a similar drug to EACA, there is a paucity of information on the use of EACA in total joint arthroplasty.

Antifibrinolytic medications such as tranexamic acid, aprotinin, and aminocaproic acid have proven to be useful in decreasing blood loss and the proportion of patients who require transfusion after a number of surgical procedures. In orthopedic surgery, tranexamic acid (TXA) is the best studied of these medications and a recent Cochrane Database review determined that tranexamic acid was effective in decreasing perioperative bleeding and post-operative transfusion after elective hip replacement and knee replacement surgery. At Mayo Clinic Rochester, the routine administration of tranexamic acid has evolved over the past decade to become part of the typical protocol for more than 3,000 elective hip and knee replacement procedures each year. Recent administrative data provides fairly compelling evidence of the efficacy of tranexamic acid in decreasing transfusion at the Mayo Clinic Rochester practice with 2010 data showing 2% and 7% prevalence of transfusion in patients treated with tranexamic acid versus 18% and 33% prevalence in those knee and hip replacement patients, respectively, who were not treated with tranexamic acid. A recent analysis of the Mayo Clinic Rochester orthopedic practice showed that patients treated for hip fracture remain at substantial risk of perioperative transfusion (30% prevalence) after operative management. This raises the question as to whether tranexamic acid could improve the perioperative care of those patients treated surgically for hip fracture by decreasing the proportion of patients requiring transfusion and decreasing total perioperative bleeding.